From the Sons of God and the Daughters of Man – An Introduction to the Half-Angel, Nephilim.

Anyone that’s read my post, know that I love all things, weird, otherworldly, and paranormal.  Most of the topics of my post are vampires, werewolves, and faeries.  Well, today you’re in for a shocker-I’m not writing about any one of thee above (vampires, werewolves, and faeries, that is).  Yes people; this kid is no one trick pony.  Today, my subject of choice is of a divine nature.

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them.  That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.  And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.  There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.  Genesis6:1-4

And such is the bible’s first description of the Nephilim; the giant, half-human offspring of angels.  While there is mention of the divine offspring in the Torah as well, no religious text speaks more of the doomed race, than The Book of Enoch.  While most Christian groups don’t consider the text religious canon, The Book of Enoch, is composed of five sections.  The first two sections, The Book of the Watchers and The Book of Parables of Enoch, speak of the Angels, Fallen Angels, and the Nephilim.

I first became interested in nephilim after watching an episode of the X-Files, entitled All Souls.  In the episode, Mulder and Skully are tasked with finding the cause of death of a young girl, by Skully’s priest.  The girl’s body is found with her eyes burned out of her head, and herhands upturned towards the heavens.

She turns out to be a one of a set of quadruplets, and Skully finds herself racing against time, to find the other sisters and prevent their deaths at the hands of a Dark Figure.  This figure is shown to have wings and the faces of a lion, satyr, and a fierce bird.  I won’t give an entire synopsis for the episode, but it sparked my fascination with the subject.

My fascination with angels and the nephilim, grew by leaps and bounds with the each new release of the Prophecy film series.  If you haven’t seen the first three movies, with the wonderful Christopher Walkens, do yourself a favor and check them out today.  Walkens plays the Archangel, Gabriel, and his mission goes from trying to destroy mankind, in the first movie, to trying to prevent the birth of a nephilim, in the second movie, and helping prevent said nephilim’s death, in the third installment.

The icing on the cake was the Fox Family adaption of The Fallen, series of novels by, Thomas E. Sniegoski.  In the mini-series, Paul Wesley, plays Aaron Corbett, a young man that learnshe’s a nephilim, and fated to redeem fallen angels so that they can return to heaven.

After Fallen aired, I began researching the subject in earnest.  My research and captivation with angels and nephilim, has manifested itself into my first young adult title, UnBound: Battle of the Half-Angels.

Here’s a small synopsis:

In the days of old, nephillim walked the earth. Half-human and half-angel, their existence is forbidden; a crime so severe that it caused angels to fall from the heavens. After the Great Flood, any remaining nephillim were ordered bound, stripped of their powers.

But Lucifer and his Fallen have broken divine rules, one too many times. Now heaven’s misfits, the nephillim, may be mankind’s only hope at surviving the coming battle between the Light and the Dark.

UnBound: Battle of the Half Angels, will be released soon from Copperhill Media.  But until then, be sure to check back regularly for new post on the fascinating subject.  And check out the trailer below.  As always, you can read more about my work from my post here or at http://frogenyozurt.com/, or by checking out my website, http://www.ronniemassey.com/.

Faeries…fairy’s…faery…fae. No matter how you spell it, or what you call ‘em, I’ve got ‘em for you. (originally posted at Frogenyozurt.com)

Alright, I know I’m jumping the gun a little, as the first book in my Triad series, The Road To Was, has not been released; but I’m going to post the prologue to The Land of Not.  The Land of Not is the sequel to The Road To Was, and, seeing as how I’m still waiting to get Black Moon Rising back from the editor,  I’m ready to throw myself into writing something new.  The Land of Not began screaming at me, “Pick Me!”  So, I’m rolling with it.

The Road To Was and The Land of Not are both YA DarkWorld titles, and like other DarkWorld stories, are spin-offs of Crimson Dawn: Darklife Saga Bk I.  Once I got done with Crimson Dawn and read over it, the time that the two main characters, Valeria and Irulan, spent in the FaeLands, began to stand out.  I am in love with mythology and folklore, and because of Laurell K Hamilton, became aware of the Sidhe of Irish and Scottish mythology.  I’ve read more books dealing with the Fae since then, and it’s only increased my fascination with the subject.  The Sidhe aren’t your run of the mill, sprite sized, butterfly winged faeries, and I totally dig that.  Val and Ire’s jaunt into Fae territory was the perfect starting point for me to began building my own version of the Fae.

After finishing the first draft of Ascension, my werewolf novel, I wanted to do another young adult title.  It just so happened to be November; time for NANOWRIMO (NationalNovel Writing Month), and I wanted to challenge myself to write a complete novel in a month.  The timing was perfect.  Everything came together and The Road To Was, was birthed in 29 days.

With The Road To Was, I was able to delve into the FaeLands, Irulan’s birthplace, and begin building the magical, steampunk, world of my imagination.  It’s sitting on the shelf now, waiting for me to come back to it and finish up the re-writes and editing.  Until I get ready to bring those characters to the masses, I’m going to begin working on the sequel.

The Land of Not is a YA DarkWorld title.  While none of the Darkworld characters that readers are familiar with, make an appearance in The Road To Was, Valeria, my smart-mouthed vampire from Crimson Dawn, is making one in the second book of my Triad Series.  She’s got a pretty important role to play when it comes to aiding the heroine of the story.

I’m posting the prologue because I’m looking for a little feedback.  Let me know what you think before I get too far into the story.  Would you want to continue reading after finishing the prologue?  Tell me what I need to change.

So without further ado, here it is people.  Remember to let me know what you think.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Sometimes you don't realize something is happening until someone points it out to you.  As a writer, you may not realize how much you use a particular word or phrase, until someone sit's you down and points it out.  Who might that someone be?  Why an editor of course.  Why am I mentioning editors?  Because my grammar leaves a lot to be desired. 

As a writer, it almost leaves a bad taste in my mouth to admit that, but I am.  I never suffer from a lack of ideas.  My imagination is wonderful.  New ideas pop into my head all the time.  Sometimes new ideas and story lines  railroad whatever story I'm working on at the moment; forcing me to pay attention to them.  I often have to put aside my work and jot down a line or two, or maybe an outline.  Nope, no problems in the idea department.  But my grammar...yeah, my grammar is horrible and I own that fact.  

Where my imagination, I feel, is my biggest strength, self editing is my biggest weakness as a writer.  While I personally would rather read a great story with a few mistakes in it, rather than one with perfect punctuation, but a weak story line; not all readers feel the same.  Believe me, this is a fact that I have learned.  Faerie Wishes and Jaguar Kisses got reamed by an amazon reader for poor editing.  Aside from a lot of readers,most publishers and agents, don't share my sentiments either.  If you're going to query your work, you'd best put your best foot forward, because most publishers and agents will turn away a manuscript that is poorly edited. And guess what, the spell/ grammar checker does not qualify as an editor.  (I was told this, so I'm passing it along)  If you're a writer that is either querying or self-publishing, and remember nothing else as you research the publishing industry, remember to always have your work edited.  Even if you're grammatical skills are Jedi-Master level, always have a fresh set of eyes go over your work.

For many of my stories, I'd get one of my sisters to edit them for me.  But now that two of them have graduated college and entered the workforce, they don't have the time to dedicate to editing my work anymore.  For a long time I put off finding someone to edit.  Part of it was hesitation with trusting an outsider with my work and part of it was finding someone that I could afford.

Lucky for me I found Bev Harrison, or rather she found me.  Bev took on the task of editing Faerie Wishes and Jaguar Kisses, and has pointed out issues that never would have stood out me, had not she pointed them out.  If you're a writer in need of an editor, Bev is exactly what you're looking for.  But in the words of LeVar Burton, you don't have to take my word for it.  Head over to her newly launched website and check out the glowing recommendations from other authors.


http://bevharrosproofreading.weebly.com/index.html 

Until next post.

Black Moon Rising: DarkLife Saga Book II: Chapter 2 Sneak Peek

Hi everyone. A few weeks ago I posted the first chapter of Black Moon Rising, the sequel to Crimson Dawn. If you are unfamiliar with Crimson Dawn, it is the first book in my DarkLife Saga and revolves around a pureblood vampire named Valeria Trumaine. The first book introduces readers to not only Val, but her best friend Irulan, and a host of other supernatural beings. It follows the two women as they try to apprehend Val’s ex-fianceturned rogue. I must admit that I take the ladies on a wild ride as they race top stop Tristan from killing and turning innocent people.

Black Moon Rising picks up three months after the events in Crimson Dawn and it’s a new ballgame for Val and Irulan. Val goes through many changes in Crimson Dawn and has to dealwith some of the ramifications of those changes in B.M.R. Readers will also get to know some other members of Valeria’s family such as her twin brother Valerian and her adopted son David, whom readers were introduced to in Crimson Dawn.

Black Moon Rising, I hope, will prove to be just as thrilling a ride as Crimson Dawn is. I am deep into re-writes, but decided to post a few sneak peeks anyway.

If you missed the first chapter of Black Moon Rising, you can read it here: http://frogenyozurt.com/2011/12/dark-life-saga-book-2-black-moon-rising-sneak-peak/

You can read more about Crimson Dawn here: http://crimsondawn.copperhillmedia.com/

Crimson Dawn: Darklife Saga Bk 1, is available now from Copperhill Media in paperback and ebook format at Amazon, All Romance EBooks.com, Barnes and Nobles.com, and other places books are sold.

Never Again: An Irulan Short, UnSpoken: A Val and Irulan Short, and Faerie Wishes andJaguar Kisses: A DarkWorld Novella, are available on Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes and Nobles.com

You can read more about all my DarkLife/DarkWorld titles and my other works at my website http://www.ronniemassey.com/.

Or by checking out my post at http://frogenyozurt.com/.

To read the second chapter of Black Moon Rising, please go here:

Black Moon Rising: DarkLife Saga Book II: Chapter 2 Sneak Peek

Darklife Saga Book II: Black Moon Rising Sneak Peek

I’m dropping by to give everyone a sneak peek at the next book in the DarkLife Saga, Black Moon Rising. While I still have a good bit of rewriting and editing to do, the first draft is finished. So what you are about to read is subject to change a little before it finally makes it to publication. But it will give readers an idea as to what direction I am taking with the second story.

Black Moon Rising picks up a few months after the events in Crimson Dawn and will find not only Valeria, but the entire Trumaine family coming under fire because of Val and her actions in the Faelands. Not only are the Trumaine’s facing the toughest challenge they’ve ever had to face, Valerian, Val’s twin brother, has tasked Val and Irulan with finding a killer, or the innocent man he’s been asked to defend is going to die.

One of the challenges I’ve had with writing Black Moon Rising, is coming up with an antagonist strong enough to give Valeria a run for her money. She gets a huge power boost in Crimson Dawn, so I couldn’t have her going up against just anyone and expect it to fly. I think I’ve done a pretty good job with coming up with a suitable villain, but I’ll let the readers be the judge of that in time.

Black Moon Rising also marks the return of someone from Irulan’s past. I won’t say who, but I will give you a hint that will make it really easy to guess… read my DarkLife Short, Never Again: An Irulan Short. The past is coming back to bite everyone in the behind in the second installment and it won’t be pretty.

Crimson Dawn: Darklife Saga Bk 1, is available now from Copperhill Media in paperback and ebook format at Amazon, All Romance EBooks.com, Barnes and Nobles.com, and other places books are sold.

Never Again: An Irulan Short, UnSpoken: A Val and Irulan Short, and Faerie Wishes and Jaguar Kisses: A DarkWorld Novella, are all available on Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes and Nobles.com

You can read more about all my DarkLife/DarkWorld titles and my other works at my website http://www.ronniemassey.com/, or by checking out my post here at http://frogenyozurt.com/.

So without further ado, here is the first chapter of Black Moon Rising: Darklife Saga Book 2

To read the first chapter please head here:

Darklife Saga Book II: Black Moon Rising Sneak Peek

The Power of Words

It's funny how one little word can change the entire course of people's lives; or entire families for that matter.  One day everything is fine and the world is gearing up for Christmas and the inevitable holiday rush and then the next you're knocked on your ass wondering how one word can have so much power.  What word...cancer.

There are very few other words that can strike such abject fear into someones heart.  Hearing that yourself or someone you love has been diagnosed with the disease is unlike any other blow one will ever receive; unless you are the unlucky recipient of a head on collision with a Mac Truck...but judging from the way I am feeling right now I will argue anyone down that the two sensations are one and the same.

Now, I know that fear of a word sounds rather silly, that it's the disease itself that's the doosey but that word; that word is in a class by itself.  But just as fear inducing as the word Cancer is, there are other words just as strong; Faith, Hope, Prayer, Determination, Courage.

Today someone very close to me sat me down and informed me  that she had breast cancer and it felt like the world came to a screeching halt.  Her life flashed before my eyes and I wanted to crawl into a hole and cry.  But that's not an option.  I wont let fear of a word, of this thing, control me.  I'll bolster my faith and stand behind those around me and give them the encouragement and support that they need to fight and make it through the rough road ahead.  Or that's the plan anyway.

Building My DarkWorld (Originally posted at Frogenyozurt.com)

When I began writing Crimson Dawn, my only intention was to write a vampire novel with characters that I could relate to.  I wasn’t looking at anything beyond finishing that one story and proving to myself that I could write something more than poetry and short stories.  Not only did I finish Valeria and Irulan’ tale, I took a look at a few supporting characters and began to think about their lives or the lives of their races.

Before I knew it, I was working on another novel surrounding David, a young vampire that Valeria saves and eventually takes in.  The motivation behind writing a YA story was my teenage daughter and niece.  Both are becoming avid readers and questioned me as to when they were going to be able to read Crimson Dawn.  I almost fainted.  Crimson Dawn is very much an adult read but it made me feel good to know that they actually wanted to read my work.

I sat down and thought about what could I write but keep it in the same world that I had established so they could experience the characters they’d heard me talking so much about.  David was the perfect solution and so I began Freak Among Freaks.  As Val and Irulan’s adopted son, I could stick close to my initial characters and give readers another view of their personalities as parents.  I’m also able to show the Darkworld through the eyes of a teenager who is just trying to get trying to find his place in a world that dislikes him just because of who he is; a teenage deadborn, which is highly frowned upon.

David’s first outing in Freaks runs parallel with the events in Black Moon Rising and wasfinished long before I got half-way done with B.M.R.  I wanted to have David stand alone, but also show that he was very much an integral part of the family that Valeria and Irulan created.  Merging the two stories at certain points let me accomplish that…at least I hope.  I guess the readers will be the judge of that in time.

Once I got Freaks established the next character to come under my radar was Valeria’s no-nonsense C.O., werewolf Marcus Daniels.  I love the fact that he trusts his Sentinels judgment even if it doesn’t make sense at the time and really wanted to have him shine in a story but it just hasn’t come to me yet.  So instead of focusing on the man himself I began to look at his family.  I established his nephew and heir apparent Thade in name only in Crimson Dawn so that left me a blank canvas to work with.  But like Marcus, his story hadn’t come to me yet and after writing a male driven Freak Among Freaks, I wanted to get back to a take charge female character.

I came up with a god-daughter that I named Still Waters and Ascension: Wolves of Goose Creek began to take shape.  Still is just as smart mouthed as Valeria but there is an uncertainty about her that Val will never have. The host of a movie review show called Reel Time, Still is an outspoken lesbian who is quick to speak her mind on all things except the fact that she’s a werewolf.  She’s a wolf that doesn’t really know how to be one at times.

Born the daughter of an alpha, Still grew up apart from pack life and thus has no desire to be a part of one. Fate has other plans for my ‘in the closet’ were and before she know it, an accidentouts her and turns her world upside down.

Not only does her viewing audience find out she’s a werewolf, Still is forced to move back to the small South Carolina town of Goose Creek where she was born, but has nothing but bad memories of, and has to decide if she’s going to claim her birthright and become the packs first female alpha.   The small town doesn’t exactly welcome her home with open arms and soon Still is challenged in ways she never thought possible.  In the end she has to decide if trying to live up to her family’s name or being true to herself is more important.

The first draft of Ascension is done and once I get Black Moon Rising, book two of the Darklife Saga completed then I’ll start rewrites on it.  After I had a werewolf story established I went back and re-read the parts of Crimson Dawn that dealt with Valeria and Irulan’s time in the FaeLands and knew that I just had to write a full on Fae story.  Something that would showcase the steampunk vibe I wanted to fashion for my Fae.  With two adult titles established, I wanted to craft another story that was teenager friendly.

After some brain storming I began to see a pattern in my works and wanted to come up with a way to explain it all ( I’ll let readers find out what that is for themselves over time).  After lots of idea jotting and erasing, the words of a prophecy took shape.

And the time will come when three will be born who will lead the world down The Road to Was and restore the Earth as it was before The Great Divide.  The sisters three, born of one mother will be recognized as so: one child of man, one child of Sidhe, and one demon kin they will be…Words of the First Morrigan.

Once the prophecy was written the ideas for a trilogy began filling my head.  I would write one book for each sister.  After that trilogy, the importance of not only the sisters but every other major DarkWorld character, would play out in a uber cross-over trilogy; thus bringing an end to all the titles.

The first sister to get a story is Theory Cunningham, the child of man.  Her story is titled theRoad To Was and takes place in the mortal realm and the FaeLands.  It sets up for the other two stories to take place predominantly in Faerie.  I’m not going to go into as many details about Theory’s story right now because I feel like I have already given spoilers to my four or five books and the very vague ending of god knows how many.  But I did it for a reason, to show readers and potential writers how much one idea can grow.  Without Crimson Dawn none of the other characters I have created and come to love, would be possible.

With so many titles set in the same world, I have a big job ahead of me making sure there are no continuity issues, but I’m going to thoroughly enjoy the task of making sure they fit together seamlessly.  I hope that my established readers and many new ones continue to follow the adventures of my characters because Crimson Dawn, as I have shown you, is only the beginning.

If you haven’t already, be sure to head over to Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, or wherever books are sold and get the book that started it all, Crimson Dawn: Darklife Saga from Copperhill Media.  If you’re a fan of ebooks and have a reader other than a Kindle (I’m a Nook girl myself), you can find it in multiple formats athttp://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-crimsondawn-588569-139.html.  Want to give Val and Irulan a quick read before you grab a copy of Crimson Dawn, you can check them out on Smashwords or Amazon in the DarkWorld shorts: Never Again: An Irulan Short andUnSpoken: A Val and Irulan Short.

To read more about Crimson Dawn and most of the works I mentioned, head over to mywebsite http://www.ronniemassey.com/ or check out my other post here athttp://frogenyozurt.com/

Now for a treat, here’s a preview of the next DarkWorld story titled, Faeries Wishes and Jaguar Kisses: A DarkWorld Novella.  Allow me to introduce Lawless, a character that will play a big part in the third D.S. novel.  Even though the story establishes a new character, it wouldn’t be a DarkWorld story if my favorite vampire and Sidhe didn’t make an appearance.  Enjoy and look for it to show up on Amazon during the first week of December.

Faerie Wishes and Jaguar Kisses: A DarkWorld Novella Preview.

The constant whirr of numerous tattoo gun’s drowned out most of the grunts coming from her customer but with the last poke of her needle, Lawless’s client jerked, putting a sharp dip in her otherwise perfectly curved line.

“Seriously!  What the hell?”  She exclaimed and pulled his arm for a closer inspection.  “You’ve got tattoos covering like forty percent of your body and you haven’t learned how to sit still?” 

Every eye in the colorful building turned to stare at Lawless and her unfortunate client.  It was unlike her to lose patience with a customer.  She was of the opinion that the client is always right, even if they wanted something as asinine as the pledge of allegiance tattooed across their forehead.  

“I wouldn’t have a problem sitting still if you weren’t trying to tattoo my bone,” he barked.  “Everyone I talked with said you were the best around.  I can’t tell.”  The heavily tattooed bald man twisted his arm to get a better look at skull that was little more than half done.  “How in the hell are you going to fix that?”

The three other guns went silent as everyone waited to hear her answer.  Lawless pulled her long braided hair behind her neck and leaned back; adjusting her glamour to hid the red tint that was surly creeping up her honey cheeks.  “It will be fine.  By the time I get done with the outline and shading you won’t even notice.”  She sounded confident and sure but inside Lawless was on the verge of tears.  Running out of a line was a mistake an apprentice made, not the owner of the hottest shop in North Carolina.

Since Mystic Guns opened two years ago, Lawless and her carefully selected artist had made it the destination for every singer, actor, rapper, and paparazzi hounded celeb-utant, to come to and get inked.  They didn’t build that reputation by screwing up tattoos that were little more than generic flash.  In a business where over seventy five percent of your clients came from word-of-mouth, she couldn’t afford even one dissatisfied client.

Her customer repositioned himself in the reclining chair and closed his eyes.  “Remember, I want the flames to come all the way up behind the cross.”

“Don’t worry.  I know exactly what you want,” Lawless mumbled as she eased her foot down on the pedal that controlled her gun.  The thin needle flew up and down in the tube, sputtering black ink onto the paper her ink cap rest on.  She jerked her head and dipped the tip into a cup of water, shaking it back and forth until the water was murky.  Once her gun was free of the ink, she uncovered a small cap that was filled with clear ink and dipped the needle into it.

“What color is that?”  Her less than enthused client wondered.

“It’s not a color per say.  It’s part of the wash,” Lawless answered as she shook the tip free of excess ink and loaded it with black again.

“But you’re not done with the outline yet,” he said with a slight quiver.  He leaned up and tried to take another look at his arm.  But Lawless eased his head back onto the thick leather bound headrest.

 “Just sit back and relax,” she whispered.  “Let me do my job.”  While he wasn’t the customer she’d seen her dreams that was in need of the special tattoo, Lawless was eager to make up for her goof and the man had a nasty case of asthma.  Once she was done tattooing her spell into his skin, his lung function would improve immediately.

That is, if, she got done.  As soon as she began, her mind wandered again and the needle dug into the already nervous clients arm.

“Shit!”  He yelled and pulled his arm away.  “Have you been drinking?  You’ve been drinking haven’t you or worse you’re high.  Jesus H. Christ there’s a stoner working on my arm!”

The shop went silent again and Lawless pushed away, discarding her gun and pulling off her black nitril gloves.  Heavy footsteps got closer, crossing the small wooden connecting bridge between the two workstations that took up one side of the building.

“Are you sick or something Lawless?”   An olive skinned man sporting a buzz cut asked under his breath, trying not to draw more attention to the situation.

“No I’m not sick Becker, but I can’t be here right now,” she huffed and stood up…

…The second Lawless walked through the curtained archway she felt a tingle of magic race across her skin then she heard a bass heavy blast of music.  Her expectations for the club rose a notch.  Most didn’t take the time to incorporate containment spells into the building.  She kept going, rounding a corner until the wide hallway opened into a large expanse that separated by four stairs.  The staircase curved around the width of the dance floor was broken into sections by long marble columns that were at least thirty feet high.

She took one look around and her expectations plummeted.  The walls were painted to look like a humans’ perception of the FaeLands.  There were small dragon fly winged faeries dancing on large mushrooms and leprechauns peeking behind the end of rainbows painted on the walls.  There was even one adorned with a scene of King Author seated at his legendary round table surrounded by his knights.  The themes didn’t stop with the paintings; the staff was fully decked out in medieval regalia.

 The bartenders were wearing hats that looked like they belonged in Sherwood Forest.   Humans dressed like elves that looked like they’d escaped from a Lord of the Rings convention were moving through the crowd taking drink orders.  The music changed into techno heavy tune and Lawless felt something brush against her cheek.  She ran a hand under her eye and pulled it away to find it covered with glitter.

A passerby smiled and pointed towards the ceiling, “Pixie dust.  Isn’t it cool?”

Lawless groaned and almost turned to leave but her reason for coming popped into her head and she sighed.  The inside of the club was a bit much, but she shook off the momentary shock at the over the top décor and made her way to the crowded dance floor.  More than one person grabbed her arm and asked her to dance but she dismissed them and continued towards the bar at the far end of the space.  She wasn’t there to dance; her only concern was finding a body to keep her bed warm and the memories of Irulan away.

Lawless pushed her way through the writhing, sweaty bodies and leaned against the bar.  She didn’t have to wait long for service.  A blonde vampire hurriedly slid the shot he prepared to its owner and moved to stand in front of her.  “What can I get you?”

“How about a Blue Suicide,” she yelled over the roar of the music.

The vampire tilted his head back and sucked his teeth.  “Are you sure you can handle a drink like that little lady?  That’s Everclear, one fifty one proof Bacardi, and Blue Curacao.”

“Little lady,” she said with eyebrow raised.  “I can drink any man under the table on my worst day.  Just fix me the drink,” Lawless huffed. 

Another bartender took notice of the exchange and pointed.  “Bullshit.  A lady like you drinks one of those and we’ll be mopping up the floor after you lose your lunch.”

Lawless clicked her tongue and smiled.  “A lady like me-are you sure about that dead man?”  She asked and clutched her pocketbook tighter.