Faith Hunter blog short story from Jane Yellowrock world.
Just for the fans for Halloween!
CANDY FROM A VAMPIRE
Leo stood outside the Royal Mojo Blues Company, a bucket—a cauldron, really—that was filled with individual servings of candy, in front of him. Each piece was wrapped in paper, or foil, or foiled paper, with the ingredients in tiny print on back, showing calorie content and fat content, which was significant, and nutritional value, which was negligible. He had always thought that was the point of candy, that it was to be nothing but sugar and fat and delicious. A treat, back in his day, a sweet that was earned when he had done something good, like staying on his pony through a trot, over small fences, or translated a particularly difficult Latin tale into the French or Castilian or Greek, as his tutor demanded. His hand beaten with a thin strip of wood when he failed, and his presence at dinner denied. Treats when he succeeded. It was the way of his father’s house. Carrot and stick. Or candy and stick. It had been effective then. Now children could have sweets at every meal. And on All Hallows Eve, so much the more.
Faith Hunter's Junkyard Cats novella series is available in Audible, eBook, and "ridiculously expensive" (her words) trade paperback books at this time.
Faith's Jane Yellowrock series is a dark urban fantasy. Jane is a full blooded Cherokee skinwalker and hunter of rogue-vampires in a world of weres, witches, vampires, and other supernats. 15 books and several compilations of shorts
The Soulwood series is a dark-urban fantasy / paranormal police procedural /para-thriller series featuring Nell Nicholson Ingram, an earth magic user and Special gent of PsyLED. 6 books
Her Rogue Mage novels—Bloodring, Seraphs, Host, and the RPG Rogue Mage—feature Thorn St. Croix, a stone mage in a post-apocalyptic alternate reality.
Faith is a full time writer who finally hired a housekeeper when the dust bunnies multiplied, She bakes homemade bread and loves to cook.
Faith researches in great detail, and tries most everything her characters do. Research led to her life’s passions – jewelry making, orchids, Japanese maples, bones, travel, white-water kayaking, and writing.
Faith loves orchids. Her favorite time of year is when several are blooming. Pictures can be seen at her FaceBook page. And yes, she collects bones and skulls. She has a fox, cat, dog, cow skull, goat, a boar skull, a deer skull, (that is, unfortunately, falling apart) and the jawbone of an ass. Her prize skull is a mountain lion (legally purchased from a US tannery) hit by a car in the wild.
Her latest love is Japanese maples, and she has managed to collect over thirty.
She and her husband RV, traveling to whitewater rivers to kayak all over the Southeast. Whitewater Kayaking is her very favorite sport, discovered when she was researching her (Gwen Hunter) mystery book, Rapid Descent. She took a lesson and—after a bout of panic attacks from fear of being upside down trapped in a boat—discovered she loved the sport.
Under other pen names, notably, Gwen Hunter, she writes action adventure, mysteries, and thrillers. As Gwen, she is a winner of the WH Smith Literary Award for Fresh Talent in 1995 in the UK, and won a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award in 2008. As Faith, her books have been on the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller lists, been nominated for various awards and won an Audie Award with Khristine Hvam, among other awards. Under all her pen names, she has more than 40 books, anthologies, and complications in print in 30 countries.
This super short vignette gives a glimpse into Leo’s mind as he contemplates the effect on his view of underlings that his relationship with Jane Yellowrock has wrought.
This is not a stand-alone story and can only be appreciated by readers of the Jane Yellowrock series.
Jane Yellowrock 11:75. Halloween 2017 blog vignette. Leo’s POV. After handing out candy at the annual French Quarter Halloween street party, Leo realizes he needs to take Jane’s advice and treat people better.
Candy from a Vampire is a short story told from the perspective of Leo Pellissier. It takes place between Blood in her Veins and Shadow Rites. It can be read out of order, but I would strong suggest reading up to Blood in her Veins to avoid minor spoilers. Candy from a Vampire does a good job of explaining a few things in a short amount of time. Leo views everything like a business, or at least he tends to view everything as something he can change, influence, or own. Seeing inside his head allows us to see this in action; something as simple as a trick-or-treat event is actually a clever ploy to make humans less inclined to feel negatively towards supernaturals (start that belief young and you’re golden). The other bonus of this short story is seeing how Del managed to climb the ranks as quickly as she did. I always assumed it had something to do with what Jane said to Leo, but now it’s confirmed. Jane telling Leo off resulted in him re-evaluating all of his employees and how he treats them. This directly caused Del’s promotion, as he realized she was wasted on menial tasks. Fans of Del will be happy to hear that she without a shadow of a doubt earned her job.