Back to Work!

My mom passed Saturday March 17th and was burried yesterday the 21st. Production to the podiobook will resume this evening in her memory.

Taking a Break

My mom is in the last days/hours of a terminal illness. Naturally, I am with her and not pouring energy into the podiobook or sequel.

Production will resume in her memory at a later date.

Hell to Pay

here are the first two chapters of Hell to Pay, the sequel to Raising Hell. This is first draft material, so grade on the curve. The story takes place about six months after Raising Hell. Maeve, the queen of the Winter Court of Faerie, had helped Nate in Raising Hell but warned him not to interfere with her if she hunted in his territory. Maeve shows up to remind Nate of their bargain.....

Chapter 1

It was Friday night at Billy Wang's Wing Emporium and a reggae band was droning in the background. Nate LaCroux, a regular customer, had suggested to Billy that he should bring in a band on the weekends to drum up business and Billy had liked the idea. He booked the first band he could, Pillar if Zion, a reggae quartet from Indy. The reggae didn't really go with the of the Chinese restaurant that Billy owned, but it was a start. 

Nate was on a date. Not a real date, a practice date. He had stopped by to see his sister in-law Donna and his niece and nephew. Donna was the sister of his deceased wife , and he thought it might be a good idea to get her blessing before actually asking someone out. The kids overheard, and decided it was a good idea to take Nate on a practice date to hone his skills before the real thing. He didn't have any prospects, and after a dozen years he didn't know where to start. 

He had struggled a long time with the decision. His life had changed a lot since the following spring. He kept an innocent man from a date with the executioner and captures his wife's killer, who was presumably suffering under the hand of Uriel, archangel or repentance and judgement. It was a milestone, a chance for Nate to turn the page on that part of his life and actually start living again.

"Sit up straight uncle Nate, good posture makes you look confident." His niece chastised. The twins were fourteen. Quint, the boy was all skateboards and scars, while Allie, the girl was pompoms and bows. 

"You don't think I look confident?" Nate asked, flashing a nervous grin.

"Dude, chicks dig a guy that's confident. You've got that string silent thing going on, and scars! Chicks dig scars." His nephew replied, with great sagacity. Nate was taking dating advice from a pair of fourteen year olds. He was screwed.

It was a cool fall evening and the chirping of crickets filled the air. The summer had been long, and the fall warm, but it was finally relenting, and soon the season would begin its relentless march toward winter. Nate had enjoyed the summer, and rode hard throughout the season. It helped him clear his mind, and he was trying to get his life back on track. 

"So, do you always eat with your elbows on the table?" Allie asked, condescension dripping from every word. The bitch, who was sitting outside watching the trio closely, chugged in amusement. Nate heard it from their window seat and glared at the dog. She answered him with a doggie smile, he tongue sagging from her maw and her tall wagging innocently. "Keep it up and I'll quit sharing my beer with you." Nate spje through the glass. The dog's tail quit wagging, a d she looked crestfallen.

Nate turned to the twins. "Uh, yeah I guess, why would I want to go out with a woman who cared about where my elbows are?" Allie buried her face in her palms while Quint knuckle bumped his uncle, and have an affirming, "Word dude!" Nate thought that was a good thing, but he wasn't sure. 

A long mournful howl filled the night. The crickets quit chirping. The bitch stood. Normally she looked harmless enough, but when she stood, ears back, hackles raised and teeth bared in an snarl her jaws looked like a collection of box cutters. She growled loudly and then returned the howl as if to say, "Here I am, come and get me." 

The reggae band quit playing as Maeve, queen of the Winter Court of the Fae, walked into Billy Wang's Wing Emporium. 

Chapter 2

"Hello Nathan" Maeve spoke, her words dripping with false civility. 

"Kids, get behind me." Nate said, as he stood and grasped his staff from the wall it leaned upon. The twins looked at each other in confusion, and hesitated. Maeve sniffed the air deeply, a d smiled, stepping forward. "Now, now Nathan, there is no reason to behave like that, she said, stepping forward and running a long pale finger over Allies cheek.

Maeve looked resplendent in a long white gown. She was carrying her hunting spear, which told Nate that she hadn't come for the chow mien. There was a crowd of twenty or so in the restaurant, and they were gaping at the scene. 

Nate drew his SOG seal pup knife from a sheath that was inverted on his belt. He stepped in quickly, and help the knife a hairbreadth from her throat. Maeve had the power of a goddess, but she, and all Faeries, react to cold iron like superman does to kryptonite. "Maeve, Queen of the Fae, I offer you respect, but I warn you, if you ever touch anyone in my family again, I will slit your fucking throat with cold iron!"  The very touch of steel to a faerie's  skin was painful, a wound made with steel might never heal. 

A slit throat surely wouldn't.  

Maeve let go a laugh that dripped with contempt. "Put that toy away mageling, before you hurt yourself." 

"Walk away Maeve." Nate warned. He knew he had over reacted by threatening the queen. He owed her a favor, but the queen of the Winter Court was unpredictable and she was as likely to kill everyone in the restaurant as she was to sit down and drink a beer. Nate pulled the knife away from her throat slowly.

"What do you want Maeve?"

"Courtesy, to start. I gave you passage through my lands, and yet when I visit yours you attack me." She said, wounded. "I came to give you fair warning. I will be hunting in this plane a few days hence. Do not interfere."

"That depends on what you are hunting." Nate answered. "Or who."

Maeve smiled wickedly.  "Who and what we hunt is our own business. I have merely come as a courtesy. Fare thee well wizard." and with that she turned to leave, then paused, looking back at Allie. "And fare the well little mageling. We shall see you soon."

With that Maeve walked out of Billy Wang's. The bitch was straining at her leash, which was tied to a bike rack. Nate had only seen her like this once before, when she met the hell hound the year before. Her teeth were bared into a nasty snarl and foam was building around her mouth. 

The great black hound padded up next to Maeve, red eyes glaring at the bitch, looking back at Maeve for permission to attack. The bitch was a 75 pound Doberman, and the hound made her look small. Nate walked out, standing next to the bitch and lowering his staff at the beast. 

"Better run along Maeve, or I'm going to neuter your pooch." 

Maeve turned away, the dog following at her side. They walked through a doorway of quicksilver, disappearing from view and into her own realm.

Billy Wang's was abuzz with excitement. Pendleton Indiana hadn't seen this much activity in years, and Nate who was a hermit to the townsfolk, had just become a legend. Nate payed his bill and ushered the twins out, and into the old pickup truck that he picked up over the summer. The bitch rode in the bed, her mood improving after the hound disappeared. The kids were quiet at first, and he wanted to get them out of town and off to someplace safe. Allie broke the silence with a question. "Uncle Nate, what's a mageling?" It was going to be a long drive home.

Hell to Pay is protected by a commercial, non derivative, creative commons 3.0 copyright. The author reserves all rights.

The Confession

The Confession

"I didn't mean to kill her...."  I blurted. The priest held up his hand to me, stopping me mid sentence. "We need to do this as a confession. Anything you say outside the sacrament can be used against you. You know the drill." The priest reached into his pocket and brought out the special rosary, The one without the crucifix, and placed the stole over his neck. He took a long drink of beer and nodded at me to begin. 

Most confessions don't take place in a bar; they take place in a church. Unfortunately, I can't step foot in a church. It's holy ground.  "Bless me father for I have sinned. It's been a year since my last confession." 

A year. A whole year without feeding on a human being. I was doing so good this time. The  priest took another drink. I've known him my whole life. He's aged. I haven't aged a day since i was twenty four. That was nineteen years ago, and for nineteen years the priest and I have kept  this ritual alive.

"Go on Vincent." He still calls me Vincent. He and my mom. At least she would if she you I was alive, or at least that I'm not entirely dead. Everyone else called me Vinny. But not my mom, or Father Andy O'Riley. He's not Italian, but he's still ok in my book.

"I have committed murder father. I didn't mean to. It just happened."

He wasn't buying it. "Things don't just happen. People don't just commit murder and girls don't just get pregnant. What happened?"

I told him the truth. "I got lonely." 

He buried his face in his hands in frustration. I hate disappointing O'Riley. He's the only one who believes in me. 

"I got lonely. I went out for a night. Mingling in public, just hanging out in a pub. I wasn't hunting or looking for trouble. I was just sitting at a bar when I saw her, when she saw me. Well, we saw each other I guess. That's when it happened."

"She smiled at me." 

Going out was my downfall. I usually keep to myself, trying to protect anyone I could come in contact with. It's so hard to avoid contact, to be solitary. 

"Do you always kill people that smile at you?" The priest asked.

He knew I didn't. He knew I didn't like killing. He knew that I don't line being what I am.

 I'm a vampire. 

I didn't ask to become one, and I still hate what I am after all these years. I've tried everything, but I cant find a cure. Nothing short of a stake or a sunrise can cure me, and the church frowns on suicide.

I started with only feeding on those that deserved it. I am a predator, with all the tools of the trade. I can hear a man beating his wife, smell the sweat on his body, from hundreds of yards. I can hear a child crying after they have been molested. I preyed on those that were preying on others. 

The priest would have none of it. I got the old two wrongs don't make a right lecture. He was right, as usual. I fed on bottled blood. The stuff has no life, no vitality. It can sustain me, like bread and water can a convict.

"What happened when she smiled at you Vincent?"

"Honestly?" I asked. 

"Yes, unless you want to lie to a priest."

It was time to lay it all out. "It felt good. She noticed me. She liked what she saw and smiled. It made me feel human, and I decided to buy her a drink. I didn't mean to kill her. I didn't want to."

"What did you mean to do Vincent?"

"I meant to feel human! I did feel human. We laughed and talked. We talked about life and family. We talked about the weather and the other people in the bar. It felt good! It felt so good to actually connect with a someone. It made me feel human for the first time in a long time."

"But you aren't human Vincent, at least not entirely human, I don't think. How did she die?"

This was going to be hard. I hate this part of confession. "She asked me what I do. I knew what she meant. She wanted to know what I did for a living. That meant she was interested. I caught myself, tried to stop it. It was like taking a shot to the gut father. I know what I do for a living. I know what I am."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her the truth.i told her I kill people. I wanted to scare her away. But...."

"But?"

"She looked up. That's what killed her, she in surprise and her gaze met mine. I really didn't mean for that to happen. Once he eyes met mine she was in my power, my thrall. Her life was in my hands, and I took it. She was defenseless. We walked outside hand in hand; her hand was so warm. I killed her behind the pub. I drank her blood, and she didn't even know to be afraid."

"What do you want from me Vincent?"

"I'm not sure any more. When it started I came to you because that when catholic kids do when they screw up. I knew you couldn't turn me in, and I needed to square what I was with God."

"And now?" The priest asked. 

"Because you listen, and don't judge me. You give me hope."

"There is still hope Vincent."

"How do you know?" I asked. The priest caught me off guard with his answer. 

The priest took my hand in his "Because you feel guilt. That means you have humanity. You may be a vampire Vincent, you may not be human, but you have humanity. As long as that spark of the old Vincent is still there I can't give up on you. If you ever lose it, I'll hunt you down myself. Until then, I believe you can be redeemed."

He finished his beer and gave me absolution. There was no penance. No penance could make up for what I do. No punishment could be worse than the hell I feel every day. The priest gave me absolution, and then he finished his beer and stood to leave.

"See you next time Vincent." He said in parting, and headed for the door.

Yeah father, next time.

The Confession by Bryan L Dekker,is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at bryanldekker.blogspot.com.

Almost there...

All episodes have been recorded and I am currently editing them. At present I am finishing about 3 a week. At that rate I can submit everything to podiobooks in 2-3 weeks. As soon as I'm finished I will be polishing it he book up a bit and sending it to te proof readers that volunteered. Once it comes back from them I will reesit and submitt it to the Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble and Smashwords.

Quick question. What do you usually pay for an ebook? I will price it somewhere between .99 cents and $2.99 . What dobyounthink is fair?

Location- Pendleton Indiana

In the book our hero, Nate LaCroux, lives in a creekside cabin that is secluded in a wooded setting. I based this on the beautiful Falls Park in Pendleton Indiana.

The park hosts the Pendleton Historical Museum, a cabin on the creek. It's a beautiful setting in a quaint little Indiana town. Here are a few pics from the location that inspired Mate's dwelling.

Roses of Winter

Have you ever read a book that really caught you by surprise? Normally I read action or paranormal thrillers, but recently I stumbled across Roses of Winter by Murdo Morrison on www.podiobooks.com. It's a drama set near Glasgow Scotland during WWII. Like I said, this isn't my usual fare, but it was so well written that the story pulled me in.

The books follows a group of families that live in the tenements if Glasgow. The mean work in shipyards or are merchant marines during the war, and the women struggle to survive. There is triumph and tragedy, action and drama throughout the book. Like I said before, it is wonderfully written, and if it can pull me, an action, paranormal, horror loving biker, I am sure some of you would really enjoy it too.

 I strongly recommend the podiobook to anyone who will give it a listen. You can find a link to the ebook and paperback below.

Ebook Link:
Roses of War Ebook
Paperback Link:
Roses of Winter Paperback

Update

The production of Raising Hell is wrapping up. I have almost 80% recorded and. 2/3 edited.

Unfortunately my mother's health is declining, and we are in the process of calling in family and making her as comfortable as possible. Please be patient if production is slow the next few days and weeks. Thank you.

Raising Hell Episode 7

Ok folks, here's the scoop. I don't like this episode. I don't like the writing or the audio quality. I have rewritten it and I will rerecord it before submitting the final product to podiobooks.com and iTunes. For not it is what it is. Please grade on the curve.

The Wrong Place At The Wrong Time

Hi everyone. I would like to introduce you to a new author, Dave Perlmutter. Dave is posting chapters of his true life story on his blog a chapter at a time. He is a talented writer and a really great guy. His story is interesting and fun in a tragic events kind of way. I hope that you take time to check out his story at his site. It's quite cool!

Daves site is: http://thewrongplaceatthewrongtime.blogspot.com/

Raising Hell-Episode 6

Raising Hell-Episode 5

Editors an proof readers needed

I am about half way through the recording schedule and almost ready to move to phase two. First I need to get Raising Hell out on podiobooks. Almost there.

Second, I need to finish book two, Hell to Pay. Off to a good start.

Finally, I need to get boom one on iBooks and Amazon. This is where I need your help. As soon as I'm done recording I am going to go through raising hell and edit away. I have idea for a couple of chapters I could add, plot lines I can flesh out etc. basic my I want to take a 40,000 word book and make it a 60000 word (about 250 paperback pages) novel. I need your help. I need people to proofread and edit. I email you a copy and you read it, let me know where I screwed up with typos and give suggestions on what I can improve.

The downside. I'm a starving writer. You won't get paid. You will get the boom early and a special mention/thank you as editors. Are you interested? Shoot me an email at bryanldekker@gmail.com and I will get back with you.

Thanks!
B.

Raising Hell Episode 4

New Author

From time to time I like to mention new authors. I have a few that I have connected with and really like as individuals and authors. I want to recommend author Kaylan Doyle. She does scifi and fantasy and certainly deserves our support. Check her work out at www.kaylandoyle.com

Raising Hell Episode 3

Work Work Work

I've been plugging away at finishing the audio portion of this project. I've finished 5 episodes and will record 2 more tomorrow. When I am done recording I will reedit the book, probably add some content and send it to Amazon as an ebook. I will be looking for some beta readers at that time. Any takers?

Raising Hell-Episodes 1&2

here are episodes 1&2 of Raising Hell. I will add episode 3 sometime this week. Please feel free to leave comments and input.

Change of Plans.....

Podiobooks.com has recently changed their policies. Previously an author could submit his episodes one at a time, as they were completed, but now they can only be submitted when the work is complete. I have decided to post episodes here until they are all done and then they will be on podiobooks.com and iTunes. I will let everyone know when that occurs. I will start posting episodes this weekend.

In the meantime, I started the sequel to Raising Hell. it will be called hell to pay, and will involve a deal with the devil that our hero, Nate LaCroux, has to keep from coming to fruition. Someone he loves has been taken, and will be sacrificed to satan.

I like the way the story has started out, fast and furious, with action from the very first chapter, when Maeve, Queen of Winter Court of Faerie, walks into Nate's favorite restaurant, Billy Wang's Wing Emporium, and demands payment for a debt. She demands Nate's niece as payment, to be hunted as the prey of the Wild Hunt. If Maeve hunts her down, she dies.  We will see most of the characters from the first book, and a couple of new ones.

One of the new characters is lifted from Irish history, and the song Black Rose by Thin Lizzy. Props to anyone who can guess who this character is.

Sorry For The Delay

I wanted to take a moment and apologize. I have been sidelined by a battle with the flu these last few days. I am running a bit behind in the recording and editing process. I will be submitting episode one, with a slight tweak or two, to podiobooks.com tomorrow.

The edit is almost done on episode two and I will submit it no later than the first of next week. Episode three is recorded but not edited.

I am also about half way done with a short story that is set in the Raising Hell universe. I will post it as soon as it's done. I will also be starting the sequel soon. I have the beginning sketched out. Feel free to leave comments on where you would like to see this story go.

Thanks for your patience.

Bryan

Promo

here's the promo for the new podiobook Raising Hell.

Almost Time To Raise Hell

Brand New Raising Hell Promo!

Recording is flying along. I sent out some copies to friends to get their input, and I hope to be up within a week. Here's a brand new audio promo. What do you think?

Location Part 2, The Creepy Ass Storage Place.

For several years I worked as a pest control technician. A bug guy. One of the places I treated was affectionately known as "the creepy ass storage place". The halls were dark, long and dirty, with an open raftered ceiling above. As I worked there I could imagine a vampire, or some other malevolent monster silently reaching down and pulling me up never to be seen again. The place just creeped my the fuck out!

I always said that if I wrote a book I would have to use the location. Thats exactly what I did when I wrote Raising Hell Here are some pics of the location.

And here is how it plays out in one scene of the book.

At Nate’s insistence they started looking for an abandoned building in the area, and found it. It was an old warehouse that had served once as an indoor storage business, but now it was a symbol of abandonment, neglect, and decay.  They  went in through a broken window, unsure of what they might find, Nate secretly hoping that it was a dead end. He hoped they might find some squatters that they could warn. Within moments they smelled the decay, and he knew no living squatter would be found.They carefully opened one empty storage unit after another and began finding bodies in various stages of decomposition. Some fresh, and some bloated and leaking their internal organs. All were desiccated, as if a massive spider had suck every fluid from them. Fred called for backup as they continued clearing the building. The seventeenth unit held the killer, a young, and very hungry vampire.

There is something amazing that happens the first time a person is confronted with the realization that the unreal is in fact the reality that surrounds us. Few people really look at the world around them and see the horrors that walk the street, hidden in plain sight. Most people that are confronted with it turn away and they rationalize to themselves that they simply didn't see what they had indeed seen, refusing to consider that the carefully crafted illusion they called the world was in fact much less sane than they believed. Fred didn't believe in vampires when she entered the building, smelled the decay and opened storage units full of lifeless bodies. She believed in them when she left.

I hope you enjoyed this preview. Look for Raising Hell soon on podiobooks.com and iTunes.

Location Part 1 The Propylaeum Tea Room

When writing Raising Hell I was inspired by real life locations. Writing isn't just about characters and situations. Sometimes it's about where the two interact.  In the book a meeting takes place between Sir Lawrence "Cold Larry" Hanover III and our resident good guy Nate Lacroux. These two guys are opposites. Polar freaking opposites. Both are wizards, but Nate is a biker, and Cold Larry is a very refined English ambassador. Larry was forced to come to  Indianapolis looking for Nate when our good guy avoided meeting him. Finally Larry forces Nate to meet and chooses a location. Larry sets the meeting for Indianapolis' own Propylaeum Tea Room,a very proper location in the Old North Side of Indy. I chose this place because of the neighborhood. While I have never sipped tea there there Old Northside has had quite a comeback. In the late eighties these old manners were flop houses for addicts and homeless people, and prostitution was rife in the neighborhood. Homeless shelters were built nearby and the neighborhood was rehabbed to it's former glory. 

Here's the Propylaeum;

And here is how the scene plays out in the book:

"Nate wasn't sure exactly what appropriate dress was for the Propylaeum Tea Room, but he was sure that he wasn't up to par. Sir Lawrence was sitting in the corner, sipping his steaming earl grey tea and browsing the Wall Street Journal. If Larry was as old as Nate assumed he was the interest alone on his savings account could have kept Nate in hot and cold running blondes for a long time. The browsing was just Larry’s way of downplaying the seriousness of the situation. He was being dismissive. 

Larry was dressed immaculately in a well tailored grey suit, sported a pencil thin mustache that alternated silver and slate grey. A matched bowler was balanced on his knee which was crossed over a long lean leg. His left arm was missing at the shoulder, and the empty sleeve was neatly pinned his jacket. He man looked like control itself, but he had seen his share of hardship.

For his part Nate was dressed in greasy jeans and a hoodie. His jeans were covered by his worn chaps  and his  hoodie with a familiar old leather vest that was peppered with patches, many profane, all of which clashed with sparsely populated tables of white haired women in muted pantsuits. He rode with the outlaw motorcycle clubs sometimes. The real 1%‘ers. He found them one of the few places he could fit in. He was an outcast among outcasts there. They accepted outcasts, and reveled in the status themselves. The old women in the tea room stared as he walked by, Tee following in his wake. Grey heads shook in disgust and mouths lined with pearly white false teeth hung open.  The two of them stood out like a turds In a punch bowl.

I hope you enjoyed this preview! Raising hell will be out on podiobooks.com and iTunes soon.

Raising Hell Promo!

And innocent man is about to be executed and the Stickman killer is running free.

Twelve years ago, a vicious serial killer reigned terror on the supernatural community, killing them ritually and leaving a small Stickman figure at each crime scene as a calling card. He killed Nate LaCroux's wife and Nate LaCroux has waited a dozen years or a front row seat to the execution.

But the wrong man was convicted. The man on death row is innocent, and the Stickman, helped by a fallen angel, has gotten the keys to hell and plans to throw the gates wide open.

The Stickman has one problem. Nate LaCroux is a wizard of the Order of the Arcana. Nate is summoned by the Arcana, and tasked with with catching the real killer before it's too late. Before an innocent man is executed and the gates of hell swing wide.

Can Nate save an innocent man, catch a brutal serial killer and stop hell on earth? Find out by listening to Raising Hell, and exciting new serialized podcast from author Bryan Dekker. Available soon on podiobooks.com and iTunes.

Raising Hell test Chapter

I just set up a test recording for the Raising Hell Podiobook. It's pretty rough but I wanted to share it, and I look forward to any feedback anyone wants to leave. I am pumping back actual podcast episodes as we speak, and when I get closer to a finished product I will post an episode or two here. Thanks for listening.

Raising Hell test Chapter

Raising Hell Cover

What do you think of the cover for Raising Hell? I would really appreciate your feedback.