Loons of a Feather...coming soon!!!

Just when you thought it was safe to come out of the kitchen… 

LOL  Yeah, that’s right, I have another book coming out soon.  Loons of a Feather will be the first book in a series currently planned for four books and it features Delta Jane.  Yep, you got it…the hinky fairy god mother first introduced in my short story Midnight on the Double-B.  So if you enjoyed her there, you will have another opportunity to ride along with her as she performs her fairy god mother duties and tries to match up Shannon Burnett and Michael Tanner.  So watch for an announcement and a cover reveal when I have a solid release date, but it should be available sometime mid-January—just in time for the Chocolate Affaire in downtown Glendale February 7-9^th .  So check out this excerpt and if you enjoy it, stop by the Romance Writers’ booth on Saturday or Sunday and say “Hi” and pick up your signed copy…and be sure you bring enough cash for chocolate whatever you want. 

Loons of a Feather  (excerpt…)

The woman in green slipped into a lawn chair in a dark corner of the backyard as Bubba Ray took a seat in the chair to her right.  The dog padded up next to Delta and sat.  He pushed his nose under her wrinkled hand with the long green nails, as it rested on the arm of the chair, and nudged her gently.

“Yeah, Mac, I know.”  The woman watched Shannon stomp across the yard and resume her seat by the pool.  “This is gonna be harder than we first expected.  Apparently, it’ll take more than just an introduction to get those two mule-heads together.”

Mac’s tongue dripped saliva as he closed his eyes and leaned into the woman’s hand.

“What the hell is it with these Burnetts, anyway?  I swear, that girl’s even more stubborn than her mother.”

Bubba Ray sighed.  “This is all my fault, sis.  If I hadn’t misread the aura match, Shannon wouldn’t be in this fix.”

“That’s true, Bubba Ray,” replied Delta, “but we can’t do anything about it.  Right now our focus has to be on getting this match made before the glimmer winks out.  By my calculation, we’ve only got a little over three months to make these two fall in love.  Not a lot of time, but it can be done.  We just have to find a way to get these two together so the glimmer survives and that baby can be born one day.”

Bubba Ray thought for a moment before he asked, “Can’t we ask for an extension on the glimmer?  More time to make the match?”

Delta shook her head.  “No.  There are no extensions on the life of the glimmer.  Once they appear, there’s a baby waiting to be born.  The glimmer starts to die the day it appears.  If we don’t make the right match before the glimmer winks out, the baby won’t be born.  The parents don’t have to get married right away, but the love must flourish.  It’s the love between the two that keeps the glimmer alive and healthy until the day of conception.  Doesn’t matter if it takes nine months or ten years, the baby will be born as long as there is enough love to sustain the glimmer.  But if we take too long or the love isn’t strong enough to last, the baby, the dog, and the glimmer will all be lost.”

“Those are high stakes, Delta.  Seems harsh.”

“Hey, I don’t make the rules.  I just make the matches and keep an eye on ’em until the baby gets here.  That’s why the dog stays behind…to keep an eye on the glimmer.  He’s my eyes and ears inside the house to make sure the love stays strong and the glimmer thrives.”

“Still seems harsh.”

Delta nodded.  “I know.  I thought so too at first, but you can’t change it…that’s just the way it works.”

“How come everyone doesn’t get a glimmer?  Why is it some couples get together and have kids, but there’s no glimmer?”

Delta heaved a sigh.  The boy really did sleep his way through Fairy school.  “It’s about blessings, Bubba Ray.  The glimmers appear to families whose ancestors did something really brave or made some huge sacrifice for mankind.  It’s God’s way of blessing a family line.  Each child brought into the line has a special blessing from God, a promise of love beyond bounds.  Other mortals can find love and have children and lead very happy lives, but those loves are the standard-issue.  They take work to maintain and they can die.  The love can go bad, the children can go bad, they can turn to hatred or cheating.  Glimmers bring the ability to love completely, passionately, unselfishly, and unconditionally.  These lines are marked and blessed forever.”

There was a moment of silence as Delta allowed Bubba Ray to chew on what he’d learned.  Then she took a deep breath and forged forward.  “Which is why we can’t afford to fail…not now.  I’ve never lost a glimmer and I don’t intend to start now.  So I need you to pay attention.  Watch and learn and be ready to help if I tell you to.”

With a glance back at Shannon sitting in a lawn chair by the pool, she added.  “I’m too damned old to have to work this hard…so the least you can do is be my assistant until we get this thing fixed.  Some days I wonder why I try so hard to save every glimmer that comes along.”

Bubba Ray’s eyes shifted to Delta.  “That’s why you’re the best.’

“Yeah, damn lotta good it does me.  Just means I work my ass off for the same pay everyone else gets.”

“But you’re the best…the gold standard.”  There was a short pause before he added in a sullen tone, “I’ll never be the best at anything.  Some of us can only ever hope to be boringly average.”

Delta turned to look into Bubba Ray’s eyes as her heart constricted for him.  For the first time ever, she realized how hard it must have been for Bubba Ray, growing up in the shadow of the family he’d been born into.  Their family had always been sort of the “royalty” of fairy god folk.  Her parents had been the best of their generation and she’d always been the best of hers.  Where did that leave Bubba Ray?  Is that what happened to him?  Did he just quit trying because he could never best his big sister?  No, that couldn’t be it.  She’d seen him try.  He tried harder than anyone she knew.  The problem was everything seemed to go wrong for the boy.  His memory was shit and every spell he cast seemed to come with a built-in black cloud.  No, it was something else…some other mystery she swore she would help him unlock and find a cure for.

Reaching out, Delta patted Bubba Ray’s shoulder.  “Don’t fret, baby brother, you’ll grow into it.  One day, everything will just drop into place and your magic will flow slicker ‘n snot on a kindergarten slide.”

A low rumble of thunder overhead in a cloudless night sky made Delta and Bubba Ray both look up and cock their heads to the side as if listening for the next rumble.

Seconds later, Delta rolled her eyes and spoke sharply.  “Oh, shut up.  Who asked you, anyway?  It’s just a saying.  If you weren’t such a prissy pansy, it wouldn’t bother you.  Don’t you have a lick of country in your soul?”  Turning to Bubba Ray, she added, “It’s city boys like that put the ‘fairy’ in ‘fairy god father’”.

Bubba Ray snorted and hiccupped at the same time as laughter exploded from deep inside him.  Delta cut her eyes to Mac and rolled them as she listened to the next insult from her smart-ass boss.  Mac’s eyes opened wide and he snapped to attention, his tongue withdrawing behind white canines, his eyes focused on the woman.  He always perked up at these bantering sessions.

A split second later, Delta rolled her eyes upward and hissed, “Oh, shut up.  I’ve got more than enough ass left to kick yours!  And speaking of asses, don’t you have some kissing up to do somewhere else?  Or maybe some wings to pull off of baby dragonflies?”

Bubba Ray remained silent as he scrunched down into his chair, apparently trying to be invisible.  He was such a chicken.  When Delta and the boss started scrapping, Bubba Ray’s first response was always to look for a rock to crawl under.  Well, if he was gonna be any kind of a decent fairy god father one day, he’d have to grow a set of balls and learn to stand up to the boss or he’d never get anything done.  Those management types never did understand what it took to get things done in the trenches.

Turning back toward the dog, she patted him on the head as she mumbled under her breath, “Damn fool Fairy.  I hate those rookie god fathers.  Give ‘em a new pair of wings and they think they’re God’s gift to the world.  Well, don’t think I won’t kick his ass if he doesn’t back off.  He’s got no freakin’ clue how cranky a couple hundred years of matchmaking can make an old broad.”

The dog squeaked out a low whine and scooted closer as he laid his head in the woman’s lap, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.

Bubba Ray slid further down in his chair.

 

~~~

That’s my story, fun and freaky, and I’m stickin’ to it.  Hang on tight now ‘cuz we’re gonna go real, real fast!

Love ya,

Kayce