Justice, Lightning, And Lingerie

It had only been two days, but it had felt much longer since she had seen him. As Diego kissed and nibbled her neck, Delilah sighed with pleasure. They tore away at their clothing, hungry for each other, and settled onto the bed, their hands exploring each other, their fingers brushing against the bare skin of the other. Delilah moaned. If only the Sisters could have seen her now... they'd be tut-tutting in disapproval.

As his mouth moved lower, away from her neck, she wondered how she could have ever lived without him in her life, and then....

....the door burst open, and the writer walked in. "That's enough, you two!" he yelled, looking irritable. "You're not hijacking my blog!"

Delilah sighed in dismay. "Do you mind? We're in the middle of something here."

The writer rolled his eyes. "How many characters hijack blogs on their creators?"

"Not many," Diego answered. "But when you start writing characters breaking through the Fourth Wall, what do you expect?"

****

Once again, in the words of that immortal philosopher, Mr. Bugs Bunny....

Ain't I a stinker?

Today I finished off a chapter (yes, that includes that interrogation thing I mentioned a few blogs back). From here on in, it's four chapters to go. Five, if one of them gets a bit long. The end is in sight. And I find myself short on chapter titles.

I should amend that: chapter titles that fit the theme of the chapter. That's what I'm short on. As some of you may recall, I was considering using The Twilight War as a chapter title towards the end. That I decided against, because of the association with certain glittery vampires who must go unnamed.

I thought of using The Covenant War, since it features the last stand of my terrorist group, the Covenant.

Then I thought of this line:

Justice, like lightning, ever should appear to few men's ruin but to all men's fear.

The line has been attributed to a poet named Thomas Randolph, but there's some dispute about that. Sufficed to say, it's a good line, and writer Kurt Busiek used it years ago in the launch of a comics series called Thunderbolts. The book is still about today, more then 150 issues later.

The premise of the series was simple: a group of villains masquerade as heroes to gain the world's trust and thus take control. Very shortly in, a number of them turn on their leaders and become heroes for real. The book became about redemption, sometimes earned and kept, other times turned away from. It's gone through many changes since then, to its current status as a rehabilitation program set up by the American government. The book has, been for the most part, a personal favourite of mine.

From that first issue, those three words stayed close to mind: Justice, like lightning. It no doubt helped that they were always pasted on the cover. Anyway, it seems an ideal chapter title. Vengeance has been a prevailing theme in Heaven & Hell. Now that the book is coming towards its end, bringing things back full circle to justice seems right, and it ought to be reflected in a late chapter title.

Besides, somehow Bear Hangovers doesn't ring true for a chapter title.

The Revenge List

"Hatred is blind; rage carries you away; and he who pours out vengeance runs the risk of tasting a bitter draught." -Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo


"How did I escape? With difficulty. How did I plan this moment? With pleasure. "  -Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

"Those who plot the destruction of others often perish in the attempt." -Thomas Moore

"From this time forth, my thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!" -William Shakespeare, Hamlet

"I just work for Vizzini to pay the bills. There's not a lot of money in revenge." -Inigo Montoya

He stood alone in the dark upper chamber, staring out into the night, cackling to himself. After so long, his revenge was near, so close. The fools had deserved their fate, and soon he would carry it out. He was so caught up in thoughts of his revenge that he never heard the door open. And he was unaware of the couple who strode into the room. For their part, they were completely unaware of him. Delilah and Diego, caught up in lust, were only aware of each other. The couple had their hands all over each other, locked in a kiss, one that was involving more then a fair share of tongue action.

They bumped into him, and sent him stumbling towards the open window. Startled, he cried out, and fell straight through. Neither of them heard him. Diego was busily stripping off his shirt, and Delilah let her dress fall away from around her shoulders. They came back together, stripping away their remaining clothing, and took to the nearby bed, oblivious to the open window and the man who had been standing there....

Two stories below, the man woke up, lying among the rose bushes, his head aching. He slowly rose to his feet, turned and looked at the house, and wondered where he was. Then he wondered who he was. Little did he know, but he had sustained a blow to the head, triggering what would come to be diagnosed as amnesia.


And so it was that the President of the Dick Cheney Fan Club, a long time believer in the Church Of Vengeance And Settling Scores (headquartered at the Cheney residence, lawyers show up at their peril), and a generally grouchy sort of person (you'd expect something different?) became a generous, kind soul, entirely giving and charitable. He even began a sanctuary for cute puppies and platypuses. Instead of a visit from three ghosts, all it took was a fall from a window and a bump on his head. And a pair of lovers who sent him falling in the first place.

Hey, I could have suggested Cheney himself was the dude falling out of the window, but come on... it's not like he'll ever change.

I'll admit... I do like starting off getting my readers thinking that I'm writing about one thing, and then going with a completely different angle.  Now then, what was I actually blogging about today? Oh, yes.  To start off, one of the blogs I follow is Mike Saxton's 7 Scorpions. You can find the blog here:

http://www.7scorpions.com/

 He regularly deals with scammers of one sort of another, frequently from the Nigerian part of the world (a connection between scammers and Nigeria? Who'd have thought?). And he regularly copies and posts the original email to his blog and takes it to task. I suspect he's a scammer magnet. He's like the bright light to their moth.

In the last couple of weeks, I've been getting some odd email myself. I would think these people are mass spamming anyone with an MSN addy with a similar username (not my own, obviously) because the username in the email details is right, but the number contained in the email is wrong. At any rate, I've never posted pictures at MSN, nor interacted with anyone I didn't know.

So two emails have turned up in my email, from people I'd never heard of. Initially I thought, seeing both names, that it was someone getting back to me with some research for the book. I've certainly had that happen. In these cases, however, that's certainly not the case. I'm copying them both here:

Here's the first one, from one Katja Sorensen (no, I've never heard of her).

I am really attracted to your pictures you posted on your page
I know you don't know me but I'm looking to meet some new people
Instead of replying to this mail, just go on MSN msger my names madison20olga@hotmail.com
Add me and send me a line I'll be on all day I am off work
Xo Maddy


-----Forwarded Message-----
From: Madison
To: Undisclosed recipients
Sent: Sun, Jan 9, 2011 6:44 am
Subject: FW: A powerful prayer

This is neat. and "It's come in the nick of time," says he; "so I'll wed them in a hurry, God bless. The king, as far as I could conjecture, asked me several

Each and everyone one of us are going through tough times right now, but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that only He can. Keep the faith.
My instructions were to pick four people that I wanted God to bless, and I picked you. Please pass this to at least (4) people you want to be blessed and a copy back to me.
This prayer is powerful, and prayer is one of the best gifts we receive.
There is no cost but a lot of rewards. Let's continue to pray for one another.

The prayer:
Father, I ask You to bless my friends, relatives and those that I care deeply for, who are reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask You to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through your grace. Where there is need, I ask you to fulfill their needs. Bless their homes, families, finances, their goings and their comings. In Jesus' precious name. Amen.

substance, about twice the bigness of our heads. Within each of

if possible before sunrise so as to avoid customs, a box PEGEEN. It's the truth they're saying, and if I'd that lad in the house, I

 
And just like that, it cuts off.

Here's the second one, from another unknown idiot by the name of Mounir Reffas:

hey im off work paying my respects to Martin Luther King!
you look really hot on your profilepics ill send you some of mine
maybe youd be interested in talking with me since im new here
instead of replying to this email, go on msn-messengar
madison20harp@hotmail.com is my screanname
just shoot me a line and add it, ill be on all day

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Madison
To: Undisclosed
Sent: Mon, January 17th, 2011 10:30:47 PM
Subject: Fwd: considered how all these pure native virtues were prostituted for

"Courage is fear that has said its prayers"

Dear Mum,

Our Scoutmaster told us to write to our parents in case you saw the flood on TV and got worried. We are okay. Only one of our tents and 2 sleeping bags got washed away. Luckily, none of us got drowned because we were all up on the mountain looking for Adam when it happened.

Steve and I threw up, but Scoutmaster Ted said it was probably just food poisoning from the left-over chicken. He said they got sick that way with food they ate in prison. I'm so glad he got out and became our scoutmaster. He said he sure figured out how to get things done better while he was doing his time. By the way, what is a pedal-file?

Untruthful! My nephew Algernon? Impossible! He is an Oxonian.

I have to go now. We are going to town to post our letters and buy some more beer and ammo. Don't worry about anything. We are fine and tonight it's my turn to sleep in the Scoutmaster's tent.

Is there fate amongst us still, send down from the pagan

Happy Martin Luther King Day

Do tell me... what are these people snorting?

I know, I know... even think of responding, and I'll get spammed with stalkers and nonsense from now until July. Of 2018.

Some things I'd like to make note of first, and one's this line:

if possible before sunrise so as to avoid customs, a box PEGEEN.


I take it this is an instruction about drug smuggling or people smuggling? Who else is concerned about avoiding customs?

Untruthful! My nephew Algernon? Impossible! He is an Oxonian.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

To the scammers: keep this up, and I'll send Dick Cheney after you. And tell him that you're lawyers. That'll give him more of a reason to go into his patented The Most Dangerous Game mode. He might even give you a head start.

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?

Sweet Temptation

He felt as though he was being watched. Turning, he saw Delilah watching him, carnal lust flooding into her eyes at the sight of his bare chest. Diego let his eyes wander over her, had wondered on more then a few occasions what was beneath that nun's habit. She strode across the bedroom, reaching for him, her hands coming to his jaw, pulling him close, into a kiss.

Before he realized it, his hands were on her, stroking, caressing, feeling the slender body in his arms. He felt her hands over the bare flesh of his back, her tongue probing his mouth, craving.  She gasped, her hands moving lower. "Diego," she groaned as he undid her dress, letting it fall away from around her. "I want you."

He could feel her unbuckling his pants, their need driving them both. It occurred to him that he was committing a mortal sin, lusting and craving a sister of the cloth. He set that thought aside once he got a look at her naked, stunning figure...

And then the writer burst into the room,, yelling, "Why are you interrupting my blog?"

Got you, didn't I?

I can hear the "come on!!!" right now.

Now then, while you're busy getting your torches and pitchforks, I'll go into what I'm really up to today. I'm going to be writing a scene for the book in the next couple of days, a quiet moment between my two main characters. It's probably the last quiet moment they'll have in the book. What does that have to do with the above? Well, it features Devon walking in on a shirtless Stryker in his quarters.

Now, though I'm writing in the spy genre, I'm not taking a page from Ian Fleming. Stryker is not meant to be derivative of James Bond. If he was, he'd have shagged the ski resort receptionist, the airline attendant, that cute embassy clerk, and the foreign agent/ cellist/ computer programmer with the odd name by now. Obviously not at the same time.

It's not that sort of scene, so get your minds out of the gutter. I mean you! Yes, there's adult situations in what I've written, but for the most part, it's been villains getting the action, not my protagonists. What is it about villains?

For the scene that I've got in mind, Devon walks in on him, finding him shirtless... and sees his scars. I've hinted earlier in the book at events that I'd be writing about in a prequel. There's a faded scar clearly visible on the man's face, but these are the scars that are usually covered.

The events in question lead back to the year before, to what led the two characters to meet. Stryker is a man who's been tortured, and he bears the scars. Devon knows what he's been through, and to see the evidence, even though it's healed, it's a harrowing reminder of just how dangerous their lives can be.

As I said, it's their last quiet moment. It's the night before the Very Bad Thing. And writing it is going to take great care.

Now then, back to Diego and Delilah, who are busily getting up close and personal, and... oh, you two don't want an audience?