The Devil's Gate

Delilah straddled Diego, the light from the fireplace dancing against her naked flesh. The crucifix necklace, last remnant of her broken vows, dangled invitingly between her breasts. His hands wandered over her skin, fingers lightly brushing her exquisite body, as if memorizing....  She mounted him, feeling him press inside her, and then....

In the words of Bugs Bunny, "ain't I a stinker?"

Well, while Delilah and Diego find themselves getting to know each other through the magic of the horizontal tango, I thought I'd write a bit today about the work in progress.

I had assumed that I'd be finishing the book by the end of the year, but, well, that's not going to happen. Even if I go into Calvin mode and have a stuffed tiger help me out.

The occasional downturn in writing, or other things occupying my time, have prevented that from happening. That said, however, I'm now in a place of momentum. Writing the Very Bad Thing (trademark pending) is doing that for me, and the end is in sight. I'm back to a point where I'm enjoying the writing process.

Calling this blog the Devil's Gate is deliberate, of course. That's the name of the current chapter, playing out the steps of the Very Bad Thing. It's also a nod to history and architecture... and beyond that, I won't say more about its significance. I've got the Very Bad Thing to keep quiet, and explaining more would place that at risk of exposure, so no, I'm not telling. Not even under threat of being tickled.

A relatively recent decision I've made is on timing. The action is currently set in the middle of April, and I'd been thinking of it for awhile. Holy Week. Passover. These frequently occur, depending on the year, in April, so why not take advantage? And so I'm setting my sequence on the Friday before Palm Sunday. Pilgrims are coming into Jerusalem to the Christian sites. Passover is soon to arrive. The Holy Land is seeing an influx of visitors. And all the while, the clock is ticking down....

Well, not literally ticking down. The Very Bad Thing is not a timebomb. Let's just say it's triggered another way and leave it at that.

One of the other things I've been finding as I'm heading towards the end game is that I've got more chapter titles then I do chapters. Oh well, I'll just have to use them down the line in other books. Three titles I'll touch on briefly here, and then leave it for Delilah and Diego. They're making a lot of noise upstairs.

 I'm planning on using The Field Of Blood for the next chapter. It goes back to Scripture, as the place where Judas took his own life after that whole little betraying the Messiah thing, circa 33 AD. It seems oddly appropriate, given the casualties about to be inflicted when that Very Bad Thing goes off. No, I'm not telling.

Fortune Favours The Bold is another chapter title that's coming down the line. It's a quote that dates back to Roman times. I'd nearly used it for a member of the Covenant, but it didn't feel right for that character. Instead, it'll be used by the protagonists, sort of a stepping into battle moment. It was either that, or ripping off the St. Crispins speech. Shakespeares' ghost would have something to say about that.

And finally, there's The Twilight War. I'm still not sure about using it. I mean to use it in the sense of the war against terrorism. My issue however is the connection of one word to that damned glittery vampire and that damned sullen faced one expression teen and that damned werewolf who can't keep his shirt on.

Did I mention I hate Twilight?