For Cormac and Nicole--

This is a story inspired by Cormac and Nicole's "Icarus Flight to Perfection" fiction challenge. Hope you like it:

Up Close and Personal

They always get sloppy. Always.

It’s just not possible to be vigilant all the time, to remain hyper-aware, to sleep with one eye open. There’s always a place where even the most paranoid feel safe. If they go there, I will find them. And if I find them, there will be blood.

I will kill them quietly and efficiently. I will use a knife and I will leave the weapon behind. It is the way I sign my masterpieces. Yes, I consider myself an artist. Where Rembrandt painted with oils and pigments, I paint in blood and pain.

When my prey is frightened, his aura changes color. Rage changes the color too, and so does despair. By the time I am finished with my work, I will have seen the whole spectrum of human emotion spilled out onto my canvas. Pain is a sunset color, an amalgam of orange and pink seldom seen in the physical world, except perhaps in the petals of a perfect rose.

The pain is important, but so is the blood. When it first flows, it is shockingly hot, spilling across my flesh with the heat of a summer sun. As it chills and thickens, I rub it into my skin as it if were some exotic lotion. As it dries, it leaves pigment behind, the stain of life ended. Blood. I revel in it. I wallow in it. I immerse myself in it.

The only way to get that quantity of blood is to use a knife. And that’s why I don’t own a gun.

New Author Page Up at Night Owl Reviews

Night Owl Reviews is offering a terrific link exchange for authors who want to promote their books and who doesn't? Check out my author page here. The link goes straight to the Kindle store where you can purchase Just Another Day in Paradise for $3.99.

As long as you're over there, check out their free reads.

Spinetingler's List of Top Crime/Mystery Fiction for 2010

This is a fantastic list that includes Don Winslow's Savages. I pretty much love everything Winslow writes, so that's a big thumbs up from me, too.

Canada's Largest Short Story Contest

If you live in the province of Ontario, you'll want to check out this contest, sponsored by the Toronto Star and the Toronto Public Library.

Wrting Contest Info

I love writing contests. Check out this site for up to date info on contests of all kinds, including poetry.

And don't just sit there... write something.

Win Every 2011 Dark Horse Digital Title!

All you have to do is sign up for their newsletter. How easy is that? Details here.

No Self-Promotion but a Recipe Anyway

It's been raining in Los Angeles for what seems like a month. (It took a day off on New Year's by special arrangement with the Rose Bowl Parade committee.) And I was working at one of my least-favorite editing gigs and craving chocolate. So you know that recipe that keeps showing up in your in-box like the million-dollar cookie from Neiman-Marcus? The five-minute chocolate cake in a mug? I made it.

Right out of the mug, the cake is pretty tasty. Don't let it get cold, though because it gets kind of dense and tastes like a chocolate tire.

Five-Minute Chocolate Cake in a Mug

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons chocolate chips ( optional )
3 tablespoons oil or melted butter
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well. Add a dash of salt.
Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug into the microwave for three minutes at 1000 watts (vary the time just a little either way according the the wattage of your microwave). The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed. Allow to cool and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT! (This can serve 2 if you want to feel sightly more virtuous).

I have to say, this is hard to beat for instant gratification. And I did attack the afternoon's editing with a whole new attitude.