I owe all you faithful Spec Faith readers big time. I’ve neglected you sorely—not on purpose, to be sure, but in the crunch of deadlines. My schedule should ease up a bit now, so I have every intention of returning to Monday posts, with the hope that I can also draft a few other writers to fill in the rest of the week. Spec Faith is too good an idea not to work to make it work! 😉

This month the CSFF Blog Tour is featuring Shade, the vampireless vampire story by John Olson (B&H Publishing). As I was touring some of the other sites, I came to Karri Compton’s post in which she reveals that there is a sequel in the works. Many of the apparently loose ends dangling at the end of Shade just may unravel an entirely new tale.

More good news. As I was Web surfing to find out a little more about John Olson the man and writer, I found an interview he did not so long ago at TitleTrakk. Lo and behold, towards the end, he generously gave a sneak peak to that book. He says, in fact, that it is so rough it may not survive. So here’s your chance to read the unedited version of the opening paragraphs of Powers:

Smooth moonlight, soft and timid as a sleeping babe’s breath, seeped through the forest canopy, painting Old Man Oak’s mossy beard with twisting ribbons of silver and shadow. The swamp folks were full awake now. All stoked up with joy, singing hallelujah for the tolerable coolness of another summer night. Bachelor bullfrogs barking out their steady bass against a piercing cicada trillody. Crickets and peepers and creepers hollering their praise full on top the other, singing out to the Lord for the blessings He hath made.

It was a glorious song, filled with deep magic and considerations of awesome wonder. It made a body thankful to be alive. Squish-squashing through soft cool mud. Hopscotching dead wood and fresh fallen branches. Pausing to look out across dark star-dusted waters where the proud Cypress sisters, skirts hitched high above dark boney knees, waded through reflections of ringing light. Swaying and sighing to the night music. The sounds of blessed freedom and sweet never-ending joy.

Freedom. Mari turned from the water with a sigh and felt her way back into the pressing darkness. Grandfather would be getting home soon. He was going to be busting out mad when he found out she was gone. But she couldn’t just sit there and let him lock her up. She was a proper lady now. A full-grown woman. Miss Caralee said so herself. Proper ladies didn’t stay locked up in diddlecars. Proper ladies had work to do. Washing and cooking and tending to the nets.

Sounds like quite a different story than the one set in San Francisco with Melchi and Hailey, the protagonists of Shade. Except for that gateway in the basement of the hotel.

But if you haven’t read Shade yet, you don’t know about the gateway, do you. Easy solution. Buying Shade is a click away. Or a bookstore away. I wouldn’t want you to miss out.

And speaking of not missing out, take time to see what everyone else is saying about this book:

Brandon Barr/ Jennifer Bogart / Justin Boyer/ Keanan Brand/ Kathy Brasby/ Valerie Comer/ CSFF Blog Tour/ Stacey Dale/ Janey DeMeo/ Jeff Draper/ April Erwin/ Karina Fabian/ Todd Michael Greene/ Katie Hart/ Joleen Howell/ Jason Isbell/ Jason Joyner/ Kait/ Magma/ Margaret/ Rachel Marks/ Melissa Meeks/ Rebecca LuElla Miller/ Pam Morrisson/ Eve Nielsen/ Nissa/ John W. Otte/ Steve Rice/ Mirtika/ Chawna Schroeder / James Somers/ Robert Treskillard/ Steve Trower/ Jason Waguespac/ Laura Williams/ Timothy Wise —–