Well, I've done it! For better or for worse, the first of the Angus Tannahill Mysteries has been published.
That story haunted me for years, bouncing around in my brain. My wife, Beth, got in on the act by beginning her own writing career simply because I refused to write post-apocalyptic stories for her. She simply wrote her own - and has done amazingly well! Oh, I've always enjoyed writing, (a few articles for fraternal mags and a bit of erotica for girlfriends), though I'm certainly not a professional. Just reading this work will convince you of that! It's that the idea of everything we know, everything Mankind has built coming to an abrupt halt depresses me. At any rate, following Beth's success with Dark Tides and The Apocalypse Mom Trilogy there was no way I could beg off any longer.
It took months to drag Angus Tannahill, Lev Petrovski, and the others out of my head - even with the notes I had written a couple of years ago. On top of it all the leftovers of my degenerating spine and the carnage left by the surgeons attempting to restore my ability to walk had brought on debilitating pain in my hands. It is so bad at times that even the softest cat fur sliding over my skin became torture. Typing isn't easy under such conditions.
Years ago Beth met some young people on her job. Through one of those friends we met a young lady named Shonda. She struck me as special then, but she was a woman out of place here in Mobile and I wondered how her life would go. Somehow she ended up in New York City with a man that matched her beauty and skills completely and they are doing well. Through all of this and over the years Shonda stayed in touch with me, (I have never understood why.). The woman takes AMAZING photos. The camera worships her, and her best friend is a makeup artist - a great combo. Through the magic of Facebook I happened to catch site of a series of vampiric photos Shonda and her friends had done and I found myself transfixed. THERE was my muse on this project! In less than a minute the entire story line coalesced in my mind. That photo is the cover of Exsanguination.
Now that my first serious attempt is out there all I can do is wait for the verdict. Meanwhile, Tan is off on his next case and he's in a world of trouble!
Go read! Everyday!
Mark J.
