WHAT WILL THE NEW KINDLE FIRE 3 BE LIKE?

September is but four short months away, and that is the month Amazon usually does its announcements.

Amazon will go big with a 10-inch class tablet, according to DisplaySearch

(Credit: Amazon)

Like an Oak, the Kindle Fire started small and has gone progressively larger.

Amazon is expected to bring out a bigger version of the Kindle Fire, as it gradually grows the size of its tablets.

Amazon arguably started the small tablet fad when it launched the 7-inch Kindle Fire in November of 2011.

And it followed that with 8.9-inch model, announced in September 2012.

Now it's moving up to the 10-inch class, Richard Shim, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch, told CNET.   http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57582844-94/amazon-kindle-fire-to-go-10-inch/

The biggest Kindle Fire yet will sport a stunning 2,560x1,600-pixel density 10.1-inch display, according to Shim.

That's about 300 pixels per inch (PPI), considerably denser than Apple's Retina iPad 4 with 264 PPI.

And that matches the 2,560x1,600 10-inch screen on Google's Nexus 10, touted as the highest-resolution tablet yet.

How low will Amazon’s tablets go?

Sarah Perez of Tech Crunch ( http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/20/amazon-rumored-to-be-working-on-a-99-kindle-fire-hd-7/ )

is now hearing that a $99 Kindle Fire 7″ tablet is in production, and will be shipping this year.

At a price that low, the Kindle Fire would be able to more easily compete at the tail end of the Android-based tablet market –

an area which is today dominated by low-cost tablets out of China, often sold at the sub-$100 price point.

According to what Sarah heard, the $99 Kindle Fire HD will also still sport a TI processor like the rest of the lineup, and will have a 1280×800 resolution, like today’s Kindle Fire HD 7″ does.

So if the game is becoming “how low can you go?”,

Amazon is in a good position to compete here, as it’s historically been a low-margin business. It doesn’t care what it makes from tablets right now –

it’s about getting consumers a device which connects them back to the Amazon ecosystem, where they will spend on other Amazon products and services.

And many of you remember the advantages of the Kindle Fire

that Victor Standish and his ghoul friend, Alice, took with them on their Caribbean vacation:

http://rolandyeomans.blogspot.com/2012/06/kindle-fire-on-vacation-with-victor.html

And speaking of Amazon reminds me of their offshoot, Audible, and my audio adventure:

Think THE HOBBIT meets THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS meets Native American Myth. 

You will not listen to another book like it!

The Bear with Two Shadows Audiobook | Roland Yeomans | Audible.com

http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=det_gplsone?asin=B00CUMK31W#__sid=0

 Stressed out? Watch this video.

AN UNEXPECTED SURPRISE

I have TweetDeck, and I drop in when life eases up and lets me.

And what did I find last evening?

http://www.amazon.com/BLOOD-WILL-TELL-ebook/dp/B0050219BW

BLOOD WILL TELL by: Roland Yeomansjoinbunch.com/post/117926/?t…#books

And what did I find when I followed the link?

BLOOD WILL TELL
by: Roland Yeomans

Amazon lists this one at 62 pages. Maybe I read quickly but it certainly felt more like 40. Not that it was lacking in anything for the experience. Presently this novella is being listed at $0.99.

Blood will Tell, no I don’t want to keep using all capitals, even if that is how the author wanted it.

Things like that hurt my brain.

Anyway, this is a sci-fi/horror experience that really sort of sidelines you. It’s amazing and I found it to be something that I couldn’t put down.

The main character works at a blood bank, likes his job and co-workers well enough too. Life is uneventful save for the occasional delivery that he makes which is usually a race against time to get the needed blood to someone in the hospital.

But then one day people around him begin to act strangely. Somehow they aren’t themselves, losing their personalities and much of their humor. They become more efficient and he doesn’t know how to cope with what may or may not be happening.

How does one fight an alien invasion that comes from within?

My final judgment:

Totally worth the money. Pick it up and give it a read. If you don’t like aliens, blood, or the idea of an interspecies(xenos) relationship, then this isn’t for you.
My rating: 8 out of 10 stars 
-  AmyD

That happened to be one of the nicest surprises Twitter has ever given me. 

How about you?  Have you had a pleasant surprise on Twitter?  Facebook?

HIBBS ROARS ONTO AUDIO!

http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B00CUMK31W&qid=1369061100&sr=1-1

 

Hibbs finds his voice.

 

Help him find his audience!

 

{The Turquoise Woman courtesy of Orietta Rossi}

 

The Turquoise Woman requests that if you could mention it on your blogs or even do a post on her beloved Hibbs, she would be most appreciative.    

 

And since she controls the weather and earthquakes ....

 

Just saying is all.

 

Right now, THE BEAR WITH TWO SHADOWS is available on Audible --

soon it will be on Amazon and iTunes.

 

Try AUDIBLE for 30 days and GET A FREE AUDIO BOOK!

http://www.audible.com/t1/30trial_at?

 

Audible Free Trial Details
        

*Get an audiobook of your choice, free, with a 30-day trial. 

 

With your membership, you will receive one credit every month, good for any audiobook on Audible.

 

Cancel anytime, effective the next monthly billing cycle.

 

Cancel before your trial ends and you will not be charged. ($14.95)

 

How cool is that? Hibbs just coughed suggestively hoping your free audio book will be his.

 

WHAT IS THE BEAR WITH TWO SHADOWS?

 

Think THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS meets LORD OF THE RINGS meets Native American myth.

 

You will never listen to another book like it.

 

Like VICTOR'S stories?    His mother is in it.

 

Like SAMUEL McCORD?   ELU is a major character in it, contesting with Victor's mother and with the Sidhe in mystic Avalon ... that's right an Apache diyi taking on fae!

 

{Oyggia courtesy of Leonora Roy.}

 

And then ELU battles MAIJA!

 

Like THE LAST SHAMAN?     THE TURQUOISE WOMAN is a central character, sparking the adventures with an unwise fit of temper.

 

Like THE LAST FAE?      FALLEN is in it repeatedly, granting Hibbs the mysterious Staff of Sacrifice. 

 

And wait until you meet Hibbs and his two brothers: the Thunderbird and Surt, fated destroyer of all nine worlds!

 

Listen to the sample and pick it up AND TELL HIBB'S STORY ON YOUR BLOGS:

 

http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B00CUMK31W&qid=1369061100&sr=1-1

 

3 SURE FIRE WAYS TO DRAW ATTENTION TO YOUR BOOK and even better info

Victor is getting depressed. He needs more votes.

A new chapter:
DIDN'T YOU WANT TO KILL THE KID?
is now up to read and to vote for:
https://www.jukepopserials.com/home/read/857/?chapter=3&sl=951

Alice is getting depressed, too.  Not good!  Save my typing fingers.  Vote now!

I was browsing the web with Empress Theodora while waiting for a hospital to call back with needed information ...

{Empress Theodora and Maxine's Eyes below courtesy of Leonora Roy}

and I saw the title:

3 SURE FIRE WAYS TO DRAW ATTENTION TO YOUR BOOK ON AMAZON.
http://www.eroticromancepublishers.com/2013/05/three-sure-fire-ways-draw-attention-to.html


That sounded promising, and this is the totality of the post by Emily Veinglory (a great name for this article):

 

1. Randomly apply boldface to some of the words.
2. Make a big deal about how CONTROVERSIAL it is.
3. Mention right in the title how mind-blowing your book is.

      (This is brilliant; why did nobody else think of it!)

Obviously, Emily was being tongue-in-cheek about the linked books.  But it occured to me to ask ... 

ARE THERE GOOD WAYS TO GET YOUR BOOK NOTICED or REVIEWED ON AMAZON?

 

 

 

When Keith Donohue’s novel, The Stolen Child," came out, the critics weren’t impressed, even though his publisher was Nan Talese at Doubleday.

 

In fact, not a single major newspaper reviewed the book. Ask any big publisher, and they’ll tell you:

 

A novel stiffed by the critics has little chance of becoming a bestseller.

But the story wasn’t over.

 

 

 

A review copy ended up in the hands of Linda Porco, Amazon.com’s merchandising director.

 

She passed it around in the office and everyone loved it.

 

So Porco tried something new.

 

 

 

She got more copies of the book and mailed them to Amazon’s most active customer reviewers, the ones who review books on the site as a hobby.

Within weeks, all but one of those Amazon Top Reviewers posted a rave review.

 

Promptly, Stolen Child became Amazon’s bestselling fiction book, and it reached No. 26 on the New York Times extended bestseller list,

 

an unbelievable climb for a novel with no big newspaper or trade reviews.

 

Now the book is in its eighth printing and the story is being shopped to Hollywood. And ... now Stolen Child has plenty of professional reviews.

But Amazon is now restricting communications between authors and readers, and not all Amazon Friends invitations have been going through.

 

But what the hey, nothing ventured nothing gained:

 

 

 

Many Top reviewers review several books a week:

 

sometimes at the invitation of an author or publisher, but usually by just following their personal interests.

 

Despite receiving no payment, they compete furiously to climb the rankings ladder.

Clicking on a top reviewer’s pen name takes you to the reviewer’s Amazon profile.

 

 Some reviewers use their profiles to explain what types of books they prefer and whether they accept unsolicited books.

 

 Some provide postal or e-mail addresses. Try Googling the Amazon reviewer's name, which will often point you toward their Facebook page.

A soft-sell approach works best with Top Reviewers.

 

 

 

Offer a complimentary book in return for their considering it for review -- no obligation.

 

Carefully screen out reviewers whose profile indicates they won’t be interested in your book.

And please don’t ask reviewers to return the copy you send.

Here’s a sample script you might use to approach Amazon Top Reviewers:

Dear Jane Doe:

I got your name from the list of Amazon Top Reviewers. I’ve written a book, “How to Grow Self-Aware Strawberries.” I noticed from your Amazon profile that you frequently review gardening books. If you think you might be interested in reading my book and posting an honest review of it on Amazon, I’ll gladly send a complimentary copy if you’ll reply with your postal mailing address. There is no obligation, of course.

Best Regards,

Victor Frankenstein

 

Don't limit yourself to Amazon's Top Reviewers. Other good potential reviewers are:

* acquaintances and colleagues interested in your book’s topic.

* participants in Internet discussion boards and mailing lists relevant to your book.

* visitors who registered on your Web site and people who read your blog.

 

What do you think are some neat ways to draw attention to your book?  To garner reviews?
 

SERIALS ... THE NEXT BIG THING?

{Image of Ry'leth Courtesy of Leonora Roy}

 

REMEMBER TO VOTE for BOTH CHAPTERS of the new Victor Standish adventure:

 

LOVE IN THE TIME OF THE UNDEAD:

http://www.jukepopserials.com/

 

SYNOPSIS:

We want a simple life. It is not. The world is more than the eye sees. There is a world in the shadows that waits for the unwary.

The street orphan, Victor Standish, has been on his own since the age of seven. He has seen that the supernatural is not confined to the movie screen. It is all too real. 

Now, twelve, Victor finds that the Earth is being invaded from Beyond. A Carnival of the Damned grants him dangerous refuge. Now, Victor must ally himself with Evil to defend the world that has always preyed on him.

With horrors from beyond the stars before him and ancient evil at his back, Victor Standish has only his wits and his knowledge of parkour to find some way out of this nightmare.


Back to my title:

Are Serials the NEXT BIG THING IN PUBLISHING?

Amazon is betting so with its Kindle Serials.  Serials have a grand tradition dating back to Charles Dickens and Alexandre Dumas.

Hoping to make novels as habit-forming as appointment television, a handful of publishers and several new digital-publishing upstarts are experimenting with the same type of short, episodic fiction that weekly or monthly periodicals published in the 19th century.

St. Martin's Press has published five serial novels in the past year, ranging from historical fiction to erotic romance, and has three more in the works.

Penguin's digital romance imprint, InterMix, is testing serialized romance and erotica, and has released three titles so far, with several others on the way.

The science-fiction and fantasy publisher Tor recently published a science-fiction epic by John Scalzi in 13 weekly episodes.

Amazon, which is leading the way with the format, has released 30 serialized novels through its new Kindle Serials program and is adding a new series every week.

Readers pay $1.99 for an entire series, and new installments update automatically. Like a TV show, the episodes are designed to be devoured in a single sitting and end with a cliffhanger.

"The Charles Dickens model actually fits better now than ever because people want bite-sized content,"

says writer Sean Platt, who has co-authored six digital serial novels.

The serial model could be a boon for publishers and booksellers. Breaking up a longer work enables them to charge readers slightly more for it.

Authors and publishers can also use a gradual digital release to test new series and characters in a relatively low-risk way, and build buzz for upcoming print titles.

But digital serials could also be bad for business if they eat away at future print profits—still the biggest revenue source for most publishers.

Publishers and writers are now wrestling with the format, trying to figure out the best price, length, and intervals between installments.

What do you guys think? 

Oh, and drop by Juke Pop Serials
http://www.jukepopserials.com/home/read/857

and vote for both chapters of LOVE IN THE TIME OF THE UNDEAD

Its latest chapters:

 

OF OPEN GRAVES AND JOB OPPORTUNITIES

and

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING

BEWARE YOUR THOUGHTS BEFORE SLEEP

Don't miss CHAPTER ONE of Victor's new adventure --

"OF OPEN GRAVES AND JOB OPPORTUNITIES"

https://www.jukepopserials.com/home/read/857

"Science says the first word on everything, and the last word on nothing"  – Victor Hugo

What thoughts do you habitually think before sleep claims you?  Do you keep track of such things?

Science does but the conclusions are conflicting

so you can pretty much believe what you want on such matters with some scientist's blessings.

Last night, I was mulling over Robert Frost's evocative poem about the winter wind and a lovely window flower.

She a window flower,
And he a winter breeze.

When the frosty window veil
Was melted down at noon,
And the caged yellow bird
Hung over her in tune,

He marked her through the pane,
He could not help but mark,
And only passed her by,
To come again at dark.He was a winter wind,
Concerned with ice and snow,
Dead weeds and unmated birds,
And little of love could know.

Before the rest of the poem could murmur within my sleepy brain, a thin, reedy voice spoke to my right.

My ghost cat, Gypsy, yowled her "I am the only friggin' ghost allowed here tonight" yowl.

"All literature begins with geography."

I pried lead-heavy eyelids reluctantly open.

Gypsy shoved her tiny head under my pillow, grumbling low. Robert Frost smiled at her from his ghost chair by my bed.

He gazed off into the darkness and murmured one of the last lines he ever wrote while alive:

"Unless I'm wrong
I but obey
The urge of a song
I'm—bound—away!

And I may return
If dissatisfied
With what I learn
From having died."

He turned his eyes back to me.
"As it turned out, I was quite satisfied with what I learned. But Elinor has chased me out of our celestial farm tonight."

He rubbed his chin ruefully.
"She says I always get insufferable on this day."

Gypsy pulled her head out from under the pillow and yowled. Robert Frost shook his head and answered my cat.

"Upon this day in 1963 I learned that my "In the Clearing" collection had won the Bollingen Prize for best book of American verse, 1962. It oddly pleased me to no end for some reason."

I tried to blink some clarity to the fog of my awakening mind. "Ah, Mr. Frost ...."

"Rob, please."

"Uh, Rob, do you really think all literature begins with geography?"

He laughed.
"Starting with absolute pronouncements is an old teaching trick, Roland.

You were a teacher as was I. You know that. It is human nature to rail against them, to kick holes in them, thus thinking through your own beliefs in the meantime."

He pursed his lips like a troubled librarian for a moment.
"But geography certainly shaped my own poetry. You could call these places "Frost Country":

San Francisco, Lawrence, Derry, England, Franconia, Shaftsbury, Ripton and Bennington. These are the literary time capsules of my beliefs and will enrich your enjoyment of my poetry."

Gypsy angrily muttered under her feline breath, and Robert Frost chuckled, "No that is not the reason I disturbed your sleep, ghost-cat."

He patted his knees.
"I wanted to tell you, Roland, to persevere. You, and all your blog friends, have more talent than you believe, and this new year will bring fresh harvests."

He rose slowly, smiling ruefully.
"By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day."

He started to fade like a dream upon awakening.
"No great wisdom from beyond I'm afraid. In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."

He tapped my shoulder with all-but-invisible hand.
"Forgive me my nonsense, as I also forgive the nonsense of those that think they talk sense."

The last thing I saw was his faint smile.
"Now, back home to Elinor. Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in."

And he was gone.

So? Do you have any tricks you use when you want to make your readers think?

And do you think Rob was right? Does all literature begin with geography? Do the important places in your life affect how and what you write?

What thoughts do you usually mull over as you drift off to sleep?
**

WORST/BEST MOVIE REMAKE merges with MAY MONSTER MADNESS!

{Cover Art Courtesy of Leonora Roy}

 

THIS JUST IN!

 

LOVE IN THE TIME OF THE UNDEAD

has just gone live (within the hour) on

JukePop Serials:

www.jukepopserials.com/

 

Vote for Victor!

Alice might get mad otherwise. :-)

 

 

The Worst Remake:

 'Psycho' (1998)

© Universal Studios Home Entertainment

 

It's okay - and rather cute - when a bunch of 12 year olds decide to do a shot-by-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

But what on earth could have possessed award-winning Indie director Gus Van Sant to direct a shot-by-shot, color remake of Alfred Hitchcock's seminal black and white horror film Psycho?

 

This cinematic exercise ranks as the worst remake of all time.

 

RUNNER UP:

 'Godzilla' (1998)

© Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

 

Toho Studios wisely forbade the Hollywood remake of Godzilla from using anything that remotely looked like their Japanese monster.

 

Fans of Japan's Godzilla (known as Gojira there) hated the design for the American Godzilla so much that they called it "GINO" - Godzilla in Name Only.

 

The planned sequels to the American Godzilla were scrapped when the film tanked.

 

 

Best Remake:

 

BEST: The Thing (1982)

Original: The Thing From Another World (1951)

John Carpenter’s cult classic closely resembled Howard Hawks’ Cold War-era masterpiece, but gruesome special effects helped add a welcome dose of horror to the original’s eerie paranoia.

I love to imagine the terrified moviegoer who mistakenly wandered into The Thing instead of E.T., which ironically opened to wider acclaim two weeks earlier.

 

Runner Up:

 

 

 

BEST: Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Original: Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Director Zack Snyder turned George A. Romero’s fun but low-tech frightfest into a glossy Hollywood thrill-ride that delivered even more chills than the original.

(Plus, Retro-Jeremy can no longer listen to Johnny Cash’s "The Man Comes Around” without craving brains.)

 

GHOUL OF MY DREAMS_May Monster for today

In recent urban fantasies there have been sparkly vampires, werewolves that retain their intelligence when they transform, and zombies who just want to cuddle.

This trend neuters monsters ... removes their "bite."  Usually written by women, they reflect the attraction to bad boys while murmuring that the bad boy isn't really all that bad.

As a former counselor, I cannot stress enough that bad boys usually ARE bad and usually ARE boys (immature.)

I rebelled.  I wanted to have a teen boy fall in deadly love with a girl with literal bite: a ghoul whose hunger for his flesh wars with her hunger for his heart:

 

 

It began at the crypt of Marie Laveau at midnight, days before Hurricane Katrina.

Victor is there because he has believed the lie that for his hero, Sam McCord, to live, he must die. And he has heard the whispered rumors that to visit Marie Laveau's crypt at midnight was to die:



Once again, I was alone.

I looked around. I didn’t know what I expected to see. It was a cemetery at night. Cue the spooky music. I snorted at myself. I was playing it tough because I was scared spitless.

I had been in New Orleans long enough to know some of the legends.

Marie Laveau had ruled as absolute Voodoo Queen during most of the 1800’s. Voodoo might sound silly now. But back then, brrr.

It reached into politics and pockets, being a cold-blooded business. And Marie Laveau was reported to have been a cold-blooded business woman. She was one of the few women of color to own pieces of property – expensive places.

But Voodoo was first and foremost a religion. One you didn’t cross. Like I was crossing it now.

I looked around St. Louis Cemetery. Which crypt was Marie Laveau’s? And how far away was midnight?

I remembered they called this place the City of the Dead. Catchy name. But not anything you’d dance to … unless it was to the danse macabre.

Damn, this place was quiet. I walked softly. There. To my right. A crypt with a dozen X’s carved into its stone face. And wreaths of flowers hanging from all four corners.

Gris-Gris.

That’s what they called the flowers and other things left at her tomb. I snorted. I bet I was the biggest gris-gris ever left at her tomb.

I stumbled. My head was suddenly even lighter than it had been earlier tonight when Meilori’s blossomed like a tower out of Hell. What was wrong with me?

I needed to sit down. I walked over to what I took to be Marie Laveau’s crypt and sat down with my back pressed to its marred face. I had a hard time believing how much had happened in just a few hours.

I had gone from being sure I was dead to feeling hope for the first time in years. I had felt wanted with a chance of an adopted family. My eyes grew hot and wet. Stupid. I had been stupid. Homes were for other kids. Not me.

My head spun. What was going on? Maybe it was being surrounded by all this death. Death seemed to stalk our family. Every boyfriend Mother got seemed to die in some terrible way.

I smiled bitterly. I had the answer. Mother was the Angel of Death. Yeah, she just couldn’t take me on her rounds. That was the reason she dumped me all the time.

I snorted at myself. Yeah, right. Mother’s boyfriends turned up dead all the time because they were the ultimate bad boys – the only ones Mother seemed attracted to. I smiled sour. Lucky me.

Yeah that was the name for me all right: Lucky.

I squeezed shut my eyes to keep from crying. I was Victor Standish, damn it! Tears were for little boys not me.

I pressed my back harder against the tomb of Marie Laveau. Midnight was heavy in the humid air. Fingers of black fog weaved around me as if to leech the life from me.

Was this how dying began at midnight here?

Like I cared. So close. I had been so close to a home. I could feel the tears coming. No.

I was not going to cry. I wasn't. I looked up at the dim stars. They blurred and bled down my cheeks.

O.K. I lied. I was crying.

After years of scuffling alone on the streets, I had finally found a friend. A creepy friend to be sure. But a friend.

Now, to save his life as he had saved mine, I had to die. No more Captain Sam and his eerie way of knowing my thoughts. Sure, he was undead. But who said friends had to be perfect?

My head spun slowly like a demon drunk on too much unholy water. What was going on? A voice. I was hearing a voice inside my head.

Now, this was weird. Way weird. Had I become a supernatural radio picking up the signal of the thoughts of one the ghosts buried here?

Why not? It would fit right in with all the other strange stuff that was happening tonight.

It was a girl’s voice. She sounded British. A bit like a much younger Ada Byron.

Her words suddenly filled my head:

“I am hungry. So hungry. It was stupid of me to try to eat this squealing rat.

No good. I am hungry ... hungry for the flesh of man.

And hungrier for something else. Love.

I feel tears bleed from my dead eyes. I will find flesh to tear and rend. I always do.

But love? Never. Never will there be love for the thing that I have become.

My nose prickles. My stomach coils and growls. Flesh.

Tender, moist flesh. It has come to me. I smile. I didn't even have to place a call to pizza delivery. Besides, the last one had too much fat, not enough meat.

I frown. I smell ... tears? They are common in my graveyard. But not at night. Who comes in the night to my cemetery to cry?

I sniff. A male human. A boy. I stiffen. Once I had been a girl. What had been my name?

Alice. Though now my name is Death, once it had been Alice.

Once. So very long ago. I smile cruelly. I will punish this fool for reminding me of my heart's lonely prison.

I shall woo him with poetry before I rend his flesh. I flow through the fungus-smeared wall of my crypt.

How will his flesh taste?”


What the hell had that been? How will his flesh taste? His? Crap. She meant me.

My flesh.

I stiffened. Something all misty was oozing out of the tomb in front of me. It slowly took shape. I frowned. What the?

It was a girl. She looked to be my age: fourteen. But she was dressed up in a black Victorian style dress. She was kinda pretty ... if you were into undead girls.

Deep inside I suddenly knew. She was the girl I had just heard inside my head. And I knew how you died at midnight here.

She spoke as if her vocal chords were all rusty:

"Her lips were red, her looks were free,

Her locks were yellow as gold:

Her skin was as white as leprosy,

The Nightmare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she,

Who thicks man's blood with cold."

I jutted my right forefinger at her. "Coleridge! The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner."

She took a step towards me, and leaves crackled under her foot. Crap. There went my hope that she was just a ghost.

She smiled. Red-smeared sharp teeth. And then, I remembered what she said about that half-eaten rat.

Oh, great. A ghoul. Oh, why hadn’t I asked Captain Sam more about Webster?

All right, Victor. Think. Think!

I caught my reflection in a marble crypt. I was so skinny. That was it! Skinny.

She wanted meat. O.K. I would give her meat. I fumbled in my head just where St. Louis Cemetery was. A rough map of places to avoid popped into my head.

I smiled wide. The Snowman and his hit women, Ice and Easy.

They had much more meat to them than a scrawny street kid like me.

She brushed back a stray lock of fine-spun gold from her electric blue eyes. "You are not afraid?"

"Oh, I'm scared shitless."

She giggled and studied me. "But you see a way out for you, do you?"

I stumbled to my feet, spreading out my hands. "Hey, I'm Victor Standish. I always have a plan."

Those eyes seemed to be suddenly seeing me as more than a meal. "I am ... Alice, Victor. And just what is this plan of yours?"

I winked at her. "How would you like to add drug dealers to your diet, Alice?"

She glided to me faster than I thought she could, looping her arm through my right one. "I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

I remembered how lonely she had sounded in my head, and I patted her cold, cold hand. "I think so, too."

I looked up at the face of shadows in the full moon. I smiled wide. I wasn't by myself anymore.

Looking at those blood-smeared teeth, I knew I would never be alone.

I'd always have the shivers.
***