On the Question of Romance

On almost every story I write, I get at least one reviewer wanting to know (or demanding me to change) who the final couple is going to be.

I've often replied to these reviews in a very similar fashion. Sometimes I'll tell them that they have to wait and see, other times I'll tell them it's still undecided, and occasionally I'll tell people that the story is about the journey.

I've finally decided to come out and post this though. I am not a romance writer. I use romance as a tool in a lot of my stories. I have stories that include tragic romances, epic romances, funny romances, forbidden romances and several more but, at the end of day, the story is not specifically about those romances

Instead, my stories are about the growth and the journey that surrounds them. They are not, nor will they ever be, about that ultimate destination so many people seem to want to have immediately.

Now, it is true, in some of my stories I have promised an HEA, and often times an HEA does include being in the "perfect relationship." .... I will say I don't necessarily agree with that, on a personal level, in my opinion it doesn't take being in a romance to be truly happy.

But for those who want to know for sure about my stories. They go as follows:

• It's A Twin Thing is up in the air, I am too early in the story to know where I'm ending it yet
• My continuation of Life and Death will have an HEA for Edythe and Beau, I will go so far as to say that both Rebirth and Affliction, and Affliction and Life will have HEAs for Edythe and Beau (that way if people don't want to read Affliction and Life, they won't need to)
• Necromancy in the Fifth will have an HEA for Edward and Bella. No ands, ifs, or buts about it. This story has that guarantee.
• Post BD continuation. I am still very early in this extremely long term project but the official answer is yes. 
• RR is a suspense tale, but with that being said, it will have a version of an HEA in it. 
• The Beast.... .... .... NO
• The Dark Assassin is a solid maybe
• The Differences Between Fantasy and Reality. Yes.
• The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Life. I have promised that a vast majority would get an HEA, so the easiest comparison I have here is that according to the government a super-majority is 66%... well, with 9 main characters, I figure that gives me three to mess with.
• The Hunter. Yes, it will eventually have an HEA, whether that's in the first book or I continue to a second, I still don't know.
• The Vengeful Lust Series as a whole is a yes, but the first book and the prequel are both a no. 
• The Wish of the Damned, unless I make a sequel, the answer is no.

Contest Suggestion

I'm officially recommending to people to write stories for The Mountain Man Contest

Emmett is a lovable character and I want to see lots of stories so I can read through and review them all as I pretend to not know which story is mine. (So far not posted).
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Direct from the contest page:

The Mountain Man Contest

Emmett Cullen centric contest!

Bring us your Emmett!

Vampire, Human, Chief, Firefighter, Single Father

You can go for cannon or non-canon it just has to be about our beloved Emmett!

Some Background info to help with some inspiration maybe!

Emmett McCarty was born in 1915 and grew up in the small town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, as part of a large Scotch-Irish family.

Emmett was changed into a vampire by Carlisle Cullen in 1935, two years after Rosalie Hale had been changed. When Rosalie came across him, Emmett was being mauled by a black bear in the mountains of Tennessee. He had nearly died from the attack, but Rosalie saved him and carried him over a hundred miles back to Carlisle. Rosalie was noted as saying that it took nearly all her strength not to kill him. She also said that she brought him to Carlisle so that he, with his stronger endurance to human blood, could save Emmett, being afraid that she would kill him instead. Emmett describes this experience as "being saved by an angel who brought him to God".

Full rules can be found HERE
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And if you want to write a story but don't know anyone to beta it than you can message me on FF.net. I don't beta often and rarely offer the service, but I want to help see this get a lot of contestants

The Workplace Banner

Not sure I'm satisfied with it... but for now this is it unless I go in later and work on it more. 

Necromancy in the Fifth Sneak Peek

A brief teaser of Chapter 2:

The brief brush of a hand over my shoulder caused me to pause even as I stared at the stack of presents on one of the tables which mom mad diligently set up. The table was divided into two sections. The first, a reasonable amount of maybe a dozen present in a neat little square, all but two of which were wrapped in simple striped or plaid paper – also know as the side with my presents. The other had to have at least three times the presents, stacked three high with a wide range of flamboyant pinks, yellows, and oranges – Alice's side.

I was sure Edward was seeing the same thing I was, the fine arrangement of presents wasn't exactly a new experience. In fact, I knew it was part of what had set him off on our eighth birthday. It was hard to share the spotlight with the baby of the family – funny thing was that she no longer was the baby, but come birthdays, it still felt like it.

“That's because everybody loves me,” Alice said lightly as she glanced back over her shoulder at me.

“I didn't say anything.”

“But you almost did.”

I rolled my eyes. Alice stuck her tongue out at me in response.

Random Fun

Sleeping

The Workplace Teaser

I have an upcoming one-shot in the works called The Workplace, a Fred/Tanya tale, here's a brief teaser of the opening:

Fred wasn't the type of guy who got out all that much. He woke up every morning, took a piss, showered, brushed his teeth, got dressed, and headed into work at the high rise to take customer service calls. At the end of his eight hour work day, which often kept him closer to twelve, he'd head home to eat and then sleep. From there, it was simply a case of rinse and repeat. Even on his days he was supposed to have off, he was usually in the high rise working.

It wasn't a glamorous life but it was his, and it paid the bills. At the end of the day, that was main thing that mattered to him.

Other people were in it for the glory or the adventure, but he was simply the type of guy who liked to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward. Sure, someday, somehow, he intended to eventually run the company he'd worked at as an agent for the last decade – everyone needed a long term goal. But he was realist, and it was all about the day to day for him.

Fred was the kind of guy most people considered to be strictly average, even though he was taller than most. He stood at six foot four with unkempt light brown hair – no matter the amount of product he put in it – hazel eyes, a face a little too oblong, and the tiniest amount of fat. As a general rule, he wasn't handsome, but he wasn't bad looking either, he was just... average.

Like many guys who fell under that same qualification, his hand was his best friend. Women typically weren't interested in him, preferring the type of guy he'd never be. He wasn't the one who'd don a leather jacket and sit atop a chopper just to give a girl a ride, nor was he the type to whips and chains – that was more of Emmett's thing, his big brother.

It wasn't that he wasn't interesting if someone took a chance to know him. It was simply that no one ever bothered to try.

In all honesty, his last girlfriend been almost two years ago, and Bree had taken off the instant their relationship had gotten serious.

A Reminder

For the record, this is a joke book, but the sentiment in the title is quite accurate. 

Music and Writing

Music is one of my biggest go-to's when I write, though I have been known to put an audio book, show, or movie on in the background, music is the biggest thing I use.

Recently, I had someone recommend a couple of songs by Blackbriar to me. I've listened to Blackbriar in the past and the main singer, Zora Cock, has this beautiful soul-filled voice, and I have no issues listening to gothic and grunge music. Some of my favorites to listen to are Evanescence and Within Temptation.

But, I must admit it's a music style that I have to be in the mood for in order to listen to. The truth is, I'll listen to any music if I'm in the mood to. That includes everything from Christmas music to rap to death metal. I have no limitation. If I'm in the mood to hear it, I can listen to Bodies by Drowning Pool on never ending repeat. Similarly, I may listen to songs like Better Man by Little Big Town or Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp of Savannah).

The thing is, I have to be in the mood to listen to it, and often times what I'm listening to is opposite of what I'm writing. So if I'm writing something that's extremely sad, violent or angry, I'll be listening to upbeat pop, but when I'm writing fluff or lemons I'm usually listening to really sad songs. It's just the type of person I am.

I need something that gets me out of my head, so if I'm writing a lemon, listening to Bilingual by Jose Nunez is going to do the opposite of get me out of head.

Happy Handcuff Day

To all the kinky bastards out there, Happy Handcuff Day, and may everyone be grateful that George A Carney patented them in 1912 on this day. 

because sex looks like it would be a lot more uncomfortable in shackles. 

Rabbit Hole

I'm trying to get Rebirth and Affliction, Chapter 15 - Wager to write but it is seriously not speaking to me. A little over a hundred words in three hours is extremely slow, and I'm thinking that my muse fell down a rabbit hole. So, if found, please return

Rebirth and Affliction Sneak Peak

A second brief teaser of Chapter 15 - Wager:

I rolled my eyes, scooting along her daybed until my back hit the wall before spinning to have my feet and legs against it while I laid on my back. “If you can't appreciate Wuthering Heights the normal way, reading it upside down isn't going to help you any.”

“Maybe I will, with the letter n now looking like a u and the letter m now looking like w and vice versa for both, there's a certain comedy of errors here.”

I tilted my head back just enough to look at her. “I might believe that insight if you were human, but with our IQ being however high it is that book could be upside down, inverted, and in code and you'd still be able to read it just fine.”

Her lips lifted in a slight – heart-stopping, if I still had a heartbeat – smile. “You're right, but let me pretend for a minute. I'm trying to get what you see in books like this.” She nodded her head toward the floor beside her.

From my position, I couldn't see the books sat on the floor, but I knew which books she'd brought in with her when she'd come into the room a couple of hours ago.

“Have you ever read a modern novel that romanticizes adventure? Heck, that romanticizes romance? Those books, they're poetic and give justice to love and heartbreak, pain and suffering, the thrill of moment, etc. It's not the kind of writing you see in a modern novel.”

“What on earth is romanticized in this novel? The entire story is a plot for revenge.” Edythe asked, staring at.

“Of course you wouldn't get it.” I shook my head. “I bet Victor would,” I said almost purely on instinct before frowning as that thought sunk in a little farther. “I'm not sure what that says about me."

Mood Today

News About Rebirth and Affliction

This story, specifically the chapters I'm on at the moment, is proving to be exceedingly difficult. I think anyone who read Death and Rebirth would agree that there was 25 chapters of extremely minimal fluff.

Rebirth and Affliction sill has a lot of depth, but right now I'm in an area of change as I've officially completed the character arc of Beau's mistrust. I need the chapters I'm working on now to be fluff - filler, if you will - but fluff is not my strong suit. In fact, I sort of suck at it.

It's why it's taking me so long to write the chapters, and I apologize for that but I thank everyone whose reading Rebirth and Affliction for their patience

Inspiration Behind Necromancy in the Fifth

So occasionally I get inspired by the most random of things. The whole idea around this was based off of a single line of a single episode of Supernatural.

I've watched Supernatural since it started and though I find most of the more recent seasons to be meh... there's been a few here and there that have truly been intriguing. One of the most intriguing is an episode in season seven when the brothers visited a town called Lily Dale. 

For the record, Lily Dale, NY is a real place and supposedly is truly one of the most psychic places in the world. Now, the reality is that the vast majority of people in Lily Dale - both in the show and in real life - are frauds. They use cheap tactics like lights attached to strobe technology, holograms from projection devices, and more. 

But in the show they go to a museum in Lily Dale and at the museum they meet a curator who tells them the story of Kate and Margaret Fox, or at least an adulterated version, because the Fox Sisters were real people - as like the town. In the show, after he tells them about the sisters, the curator then goes onto grab his arm and proceeds to tell a message to Dean from an old friend beyond the grave.

The assumption viewers are left with is that he's a real psychic, but that's wrong. A psychic might be able to read your future, tell you your thoughts, tell you someone else's opinion of you, or even cause some sort dream weave experience - all forms of psychics each have their own titles, but I'm not going there in this post. But they do not conjure or talk to the dead. 

Necromancers talk to the dead. 

So when I recently rewatched that episode, the assumption they left viewers with bugged me. It made me want to write a story about necromancy.

As for the decision to leave it in the family, I guess we could say that the Fox sisters inspired it.

The story itself is one part science, two mysticism, three parts tragedy, four parts romance, five parts supernatural, and all dark.

So... welcome to the dark side. 

Happy Valentines Day

Missed You Just Right, Part V

The conclusion to

Part V

Even though I didn't have love of my own, watching my friends be happy was enough for me - at least it was once I got over my initial jealousy... But life is fragile, even more so when someone has no will to live. 

Vanessa was such a person. She was clinically depressed, something that I never realized until after she took her own life. I blamed myself for not realizing it was coming, Jake blamed himself, and we blamed each other. 

It's not the most romantic start to a relationship, but the pain and the anger ultimately brought us back together, and in the late summer of 2009 I married him under a full on first beach.

I'm the first to admit our relationship isn't perfect. We aren't soulmates or imprints or whatever you want to call it. There's pain and tragedy that surrounds us, but there's beauty as well, and we have a son. He's our whole world. Though soon he'll have to share that title as I'm about seven months along with my second pregnancy. This one's a girl. We're going to name her Alice Vanessa, so if you do someday read this read letter would tell Alice that I never forgot her. 

I'll never forget any of you, after all, I'm pretty sure you were my true soul mate. But I'm happy now. So I thank you for leaving. I thank you making me move on. 

I hope that, by the time you read this letter, you've found whatever you were looking for that I could never give you.

It turns out I missed you just right,

Bella

I put the pen down and folded the letter, carefully putting it in an unmarked envelope. I'd slide it under the front door of the Cullens old house in a few days when I got around to driving there.

I turned to watch my son and he played with one of his stuffed toys.

***

"Got the last box packed?" I asked Jake as I peeked into our bedroom, or our old bedroom actually.

He ran a strip of packing tape over the lid. "Yep. Are you sure we want to do this? Move to New Orleans?"

I shook my head. "It's a little late for us to back out now. You have a job waiting for you at an auto-body shop and I've been officially transferred to New Orleans Police Department. Besides, the sale of this house was finalized yesterday, remember?" 

I walked the rest of the way into the room, walking over to where Jake stood. I'd offer to help lift the box, but even though he hadn't shifted in almost three years he was still stronger than a normal human - stronger than me. 

"The kids are in the car, so I'm going to get going. Remember, we're stopping for the night at the Best Western in Boise."

He leaned down, giving me a quick kiss. "I'll see you there." 

I turned and left the room, heading to my car and getting in. I glanced briefly at the moving truck Jake would be driving before starting my vehicle and pulling away from our old house. 

Missed You Just Right, Part IV

Part IV 

I'm not sure if you saw the articles about what was happening in Seattle back in the late spring and early summer of 2006. Even if you did, I must assume that you weren't aware what they were about. I know it took me a long time after what happened to figure it out. 

Victoria created an army in Seattle, I'm assuming because she found the wolves to difficult to get through without help.

That summer, they attacked. It was a terrifying day, filled with pain and tragedy, but we did win. The wolves defeated the pink-eyed vampires and killed Victoria. Though... it wasn't without losses.

I stopped writing, remembering the days that followed as Collin, Brady, Seth, and Embry were all buried. I still wondered, if I'd managed to figure out what Victoria was planning, could I somehow of stopped it?

I shook my head, focusing back on the letter I was writing.

In the weeks that followed, I broke it off with Jake, left Forks, and headed down to a Liberal Arts school in Tacoma. I went there to become a teacher, though I suppose I should tell you now, I ended up deciding against it. Instead, I went against everything most Liberal Arts colleges tend to believe it and ended up becoming a cop. That's right, I now carry a gun, though you don't have to worry, I've grown out of the clumsiness I had as a teen. 

I shared a dorm with a girl named Vanessa Starrett, and a few months after I started school Jake decided to visit. I suspect, though he and I have never talked about it, that he was planning to convince me to take him back. It never got that far though, because when he met Vanessa it was love at first sight. In the wolves they call it imprinting. 

I wish I could say that I was instantly happy for my friend and my roommate, but I must admit, it was a bitter-sweet pain. Still, for the next two years, for the most part everything seemed right with the world... 

To be continued...

Missed You Just Right, Part III

Part III

September 13th, 2013

Dear Edward, 

I'm not sure that you'll ever read this letter or if it will even still be legible by the time you return to Forks. I'm sure that, in another seventy or eighty years when you return, I'll either be dead or extremely old and senile. So I know I won't be able to tell you then. But I want you to know that you did the right thing. I wanted you to know I've moved on.

Not quite eight years ago, when you left, you left behind a mess. I don't write this to make you feel guilty, but I need you to know the truth... even if it's only in my mind. There were some really dark months where I tried to do everything I could to chase your memory. I'm willing to admit now, that stupidity almost cost me my life more than once. 

If you are reading this letter and Denali sisters still don't know what happened to Laurent than they should know he was killed. He and I met in your old meadow and then the wolves descended. They protected me from him, and eventually, they protected me from Victoria as well. 

If we were speaking in person right now, I'd verify that you remember them, but I know you do. After all, your kind never forget anything. But I'm getting ahead myself, aren't I?

In April of 2006, I jumped off of a cliff and I've swore many a time since that day that I wasn't trying to kill myself, but I think I must admit, part of me just might have been. Jacob saved me and it was on that day that he made his first pass at me. I wasn't ready to let you go though, and it wasn't until after I graduated from high school that I finally gave him the time of the day. 

Our courtship was extremely short lasted. Honestly, I think it was doomed to fail from the start. What with Victoria still stalking me at that point. 

To be continued...

Missed You Just Right, Part II

Part II

I headed into the bedroom of our son, Ephraim, now just over two years old. I was still amazed he existed or that I'd be having a girl in a few short months. Jacob and I had been through hell and back, and I wasn't sure which us had been through worse. 

Just over seven and a half years ago, he and I had dated for a few short months, but I'd been accepted with a full ride scholarship to the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, and so I'd broken it off with him. He'd been my crutch and so it had killed me to walk away, but I'd known there was better for him out there, and so I'd done what was best for him. 

I'd been roomed with a girl by the name of Vanessa Starrett and a few months after I started, Jake came down to visit. He'd imprinted on her at first sight, but the truth was, all the magic world couldn't have changed her fate. 

Vanessa had been clinically depressed, something neither he nor I had known over the course of the next two years. It wasn't until she took her own life that we found it out, before that, I'd never understood how someone could miss the signs of people being suicidal, but it turned out some people were just really good at hiding it. It was the pain of our dual loss that brought us back together and ultimately started the relationship that we'd been in for the last four years.

I pulled my son out of his crib and headed into the living room so he could play with some of his toys while I worked on the letter that I'd been planning to write for some time now, and for some reason, today felt like it was fitting. I wanted to close that chapter of my life. 

I put Ephraim down and he immediately grabbed his stuffed dog, pulling it into his arms. I smiled widely at the sight, quickly mussing up his hair with my hand before turning and walking over to my desk. 

I sat down and pulled out the pen and parchment paper I'd purchased just for the letter.

I frowned for a moment before I put the pen to the paper.

To be continued...

The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Life Dream Interpretation

Okay, in The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Life, Edward's dream - nightmares actually - often take the form of animals. A few animals in specific.

The first reference of this was in the dream-scape chapter found in the cut-takes, It's the first post in The Emotional Roller Coaster of Life - The Cut-takes, and was titled The "Real" Chapter 26 - Dream (Edward)

In that dream, it shows Edward running on a multi-colored hamster wheel made out of twizzlers and being watched by a giant ferret. Also in that dream there was a white rabbit and a black hawk.

In Chapter 124 - Ferrets (Edward), you find out there's also sometimes a tortoise or a mockingbird.

There are several interpretations to who each animal is. He's afraid of the ferret and doesn't trust or care for any of the other animals.

The most obvious interpretation is that the Ferret is his father as he is most obvious fear, which would make the rabbit Alice, the hawk Bella, the tortoise Jasper, and the mockingbird as either Rosalie or Jacob.

But there's another interpretation which would say that the ferret is actually Bella, as he stated in Chapter 124, the ferret is always there. And Bella is always there. So it's possible that his subconscious is actually afraid of her. In this version, it's likely the rabbit and hawk are Alice and Jasper, the tortoise is Rosalie, and the mockingbird is his father.

And the third interpretation is that the ferret is actually himself. It is entirely possible that the person he is truly the most afraid of is himself. If we were to take this interpretation, it's likely that the rabbit and hawk are actually his two parents, the tortoise his sister, and the mockingbird is Bella.

There's other variations also available, but those are the three most likely interpretations. Sort of up to you on which one it really is.

Missed You Just Right, Part I

Part I

Eleven years ago, when Edward walked away and my whole world crumbled, I never thought I'd find happiness again, and I admit when I started with Jake... it didn't begin that way. 

As a teenage girl who'd watched the boy that I thought to be the love of my life walk away, I'd been more than a little lost, and I'm the first to admit that it was a very painful experience. In fact, it was one of the most painful of my life. But, looking back, I've realized that the most painful experiences are often the most meaningful. 

The time I walked away from Jake, the day I thought I lost him for good, the loss of a friend, the first time I gave birth... and the second, even when I almost died - they were all the biggest moments of my life, and they were all painful... in one form or another.  

There's a part of me that still misses him, with his wind-blown copper hair and burning golden eyes, but I know that, in the end, it's for the best that he left. 

It took me over three years after he left to truly accept I was better off, but when I finally did, it was the most free I'd ever been. In some ways, I still believe that Edward was my soulmate, my one true other half, but sometimes there's something better out there for a person... something more fulfilling. 

I found that something. 

But perhaps I should start at the beginning.

***

"I can't believe you want to name her Alice Vanessa Black." Jake shook his head. 

He still hadn't wished me happy birthday, a fact that was more than a little annoying. We'd only been together for the last four years - I knew he knew that today was my birthday. "I let you get away with naming our son Ephraim Wolfe Black. Who gives a kid the name of Wolfe, anyways?" I replied, rolling my eyes. 

"It's a part of his heritage!" 

I snorted. "Look... I know you don't like my old affiliation with the Cullens, but she was my best friend and though I've moved on, I can't forget them. For the short eight months that they were in my life, they meant the world to me. And we both know, I wouldn't be here now if they hadn't saved my life - more than once." No less than four times to be exact, but I saw no point in stating that. 

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "And the other name?"

"We both owe it to her, don't you think?"

He looked away, but not before I saw his eyes fill with tears. 

"She wouldn't want you to be sad, Jake. You know that." Of course, I had no room to talk. I missed her too, though I knew it didn't compare to the way he did. 

"Yeah, we do," he finally replied and walked away.

I sighed and headed in the other direction to give him time.

To be continued...

Missed You Just Right, Coming Soon

Starting tomorrow and running through Valentines Day, a post a day on a short story inspired by the song Missed You Just Right. 

This blog exclusive story is a New Moon AU set several years after Edward left. It will show why Bella is happy that she chose Jake. After all, sometimes you just have to thank the person that made you move on. 

Scheduling Info

As I stated, I'm going to keep the scheduling info as a regular post for my blog, probably about once a month. The list at this time is not in a particular order as my muse is fickle and dictates what I'm working on next, but this is just some of the ones I hope to get finished this month (some being a carry-over from last month, giving birth derailed quite a bit of my writing time the same way that having a colicky baby is now)

• The Emotional Roller Coaster of Life - The Cut-takes, chapter The Date.
• Rebirth and Affliction Chapter 15 - Wager
• RR, Chapter 8 - Misery Loves Company
• Necromancy in the Fifth, Chapter 1
• The Differences Between Fantasy and Reality, Chapter 27 - Stitches (name subject to change)
• Newest Shift
• Forever Protector
• It's A Twin Thing, Chapter 6 - If Faith Was Real
• The Hunter, Chapter 6 - Sinker

As always, The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Life should be daily (technically nightly) or as close to it as possible, though there may be some double posts this month as I'd like to get to chapter 150 by the end of the month 

And to my three original fictions, posts aren't officially scheduled, they are more as the mood strikes type of thing. Also, my blog exclusive, which is a tie-in to one of my Twilight fanfics, will be as I get time to write it. 

Other Rings of The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Life

Most of the rings below have been unmentioned, but I wanted to add them just so people could see. The first, however, was described in Chapter 87 - Spite Your Face (Leah) and was the ring Seth gave to her.

______________________________

Below are Bella's engagement ring and wedding band, with Jacob's basic wedding band below that.

      

______________________________

And the following are Alice's engagement ring and band, as well as Jasper's band

     

Necromancy in the Fifth Sneak Peek

A brief teaser of Chapter 1:

I could feel him, the same way I always could, pushing at the veil to be let out – except today, the feeling was stronger than ever. It always was on the birthday we had once shared. The same day that his life had so abruptly ended, as it so happened.

I could never forget what it had felt like when I'd perverted the gift I'd been born with and used the power of all the spirits in the forest to shove Edward into the ravine. My parents both had told me again and again how it hadn't been my fault. Both Edward and I had come into our full powers at far too young. But it didn't matter how many times I was told that it had simply been a tragic mistake, because the reality was, I'd known what I was doing.

In a moment of childish rage, exasperated by the fact that he'd been trying to make bees attack me only moments prior, I'd struck him with my hands and used my gift to send him flying. In truth, I'd just wanted to hurt him the same way he had done to me many times before, but I'd felt it the instant he'd died.

And he'd remained tether to me ever since. My parents, Renee and Charlie, were unaware of that part as I'd never shared it with them. I knew how they would feel if they ever discovered the truth. I'd heard them say again and again that it was our job as necromancers to help spirits find rest. To bind one to myself the way I had done, or perhaps he had done – I still wasn't sure on which of us controlled it – was an extreme perversion of my gift.

But Edward was my twin, my soul mate... the other half of me. In all honesty, I hadn't fully realized just how much a part of me he truly was until after he was dead. But now that I knew, I couldn't forget.

Chinese New Year

Happy Year of the Pig

Story Recs - Valentine's Edition

With Valentine's Day being less than ten days away, I thought I'd share some of my favorite Valentine's Day one-shots. The convalesce multiple pairings and while some are pure fluff, others are horror.

Pearls and Lace by greenpeach20 - This is a Valentine's Day Lemon for Emmett and Rosalie. They always have fun on the holidays

Be My Valentine by xBostonBabyx - It's a sweet Alice/Bella Valentine's Day.

Valentine for the Man by Kimmydonn - Entry in the 2010 For My Valentine contest. Nessie makes her first valentine for the man of her life. See ForMyValentineTwilight profile for other entries.

A Valentines Day to Remember by losttwisisters - Vampire Edward worrying over what to do for human Bella for Valentines Day. A little pushing of his boundaries and Valentines fun.

Valentine by JacobFan - Little Leah Clearwater is lonely on valentines day. What happens when she finds out to boys want her to be their valentine?....AU....

Love Hearts by lastxbreath - Edward's Valentine's Day gift for Bella.

The Trouble with Valentine's Day by rainbowfish22 - Four things Leah can't stand about Valentine's Day. Blackwater drabble.

Barcelona by greenpeach20 - Happy Valentine's Day to Jasper and Alice. They spend a romantic Valentine's Day in Barcelona, Spain. Lemon

My Mystery Valentine by naelany - Edward's rich, famous in spite of himself, bitter, and alone. Can one mystery Valentine make the difference in his world when he no longer trusts love? Twilight No Stress Love Fest entry

My Valentine by swiingingstar123 - For my Valentine" Contest Entry. Valentine's day. Renesmee is very excited to be spending her valentine's day with Jacob. Just the two of them. Jacob has planned something very special for her. His valentine. one-shot.

Letter to my Valentine by woodluvsme - OneShot written for Valentine's Day in Forks fanfiction challenge for Twilight Ladies. 100 years in the future, Bella composes a letter for Edward for Valentine's Day.

Valentines and Wonderwalls by CherBella - A Valentine's Day outtake for the story Nighthawks and Wonderwalls. Not necessary to have read Nighthawks to understand this outtake. Bella is Edward's first real Valentine, and his plans for the evening go slightly awry...

The Valentine by randommama - Bella receives a special valentine from an anonymous sender each year from the time she was four years old. After 18 years, she finally gets to meet her mysterious valentine giver. Was O/S Entry for the For My Valentine contest. 3rd PLACE WINNER!

Bloody Valentine One Shot by EclipsedbyJacob - Set in New Moon, Bella and Jacob shared Valentine's Day together in his garage. What neither of them know, was an extremely unbalanced Edward had chosen that moment to arrive back in Forks. Not your average Valentine's Day tale.

Silk Roses by Tuesdayschild84 - For My Valentine” Contest Entry. It's Edward and Jacob's first Valentine's Day but Edward has to go away. So what does a lonley werewolf do? And would Edward really leave for their first Valentine's together? Slash and fluff.

It's All For You by sw1m4l1fe - A Valentine's Day one-shot full of fluffy wonderfulness! Bella & Edward. R&R please!

72 Valentines by Justine Lark - It's a quiet evening at home with the Cullens for Renesmee's first Valentine's Day. Edward listens to the thoughts of his family, and everyone's mind is full of love. Extremely sweet and fluffy! For My Valentine Contest entry. Sparkle Award Best Fluff!

My Bloody Valentine by naelany - For the immortal, money really can't buy you love. What gift to give to a mate on Valentine's Day, then? Why, a massacre, of course. Entry for the Twilight No Stress Love Fest

Valentine's Miracle by WeeKittyAndTAT by Straight thru the Heart Fics - Edward meets the love of his life, but a tragedy threatens to take her away on New Year's Eve. Will he get a Valentine's miracle, or will he have to learn how to move on without her?

The Meadow by greenpeach20 - This is Edward and Bella's first Valentine's Day. I hope you like it

And finally, a handful of Valentine's Day short stories:

Boycotting Valentine's Day by jennlynnfs - Valentine's Day approaches, but Bella chooses to hang out with her best friend Alice. They decide to boycott Valentine's Day. Non-Valentine's Day activites are planned, including no boys. But, Alice's brothers, Edward and Emmett, don't count, right?

My Forever Valentine by Eternally Addicted - Valentine's Day had been the most magical day of Bella's life, everything was perfect. That is until Edward left. Now four years later on Valentine's Day, she's about to marry another man. Can Edward make Valentine's Day theirs again?

Valentine's Day, 2014 - A Love Story by 4MeJasper - A little Valentine's Day truffle. He's a corporate raider, handsome and arrogant. She's the shy office mouse with chocolate brown hair and eyes he can't resist. What happens when a Valentine's Day snow storm shuts down the city for the night?

My Bloody Valentine by CaPtain SpOcKettE - Roses are red but so is blood. Jacob takes Leah on a surprise secluded Valentines get away, but there's a far bigger surprise waiting and watching. *slight semi horror*

Scotch & Martini's by Sunsetwing - This was my contribution to Breath-of-twilight's Countdown to Valentine's Day 2012. Bella's not a big fan of Valentine's Day, but will an older man change that? Now full story.

Where are the Posts?

Unfortunately, my home life is currently leaving me exhausted and about the time of the evening when I normally sit down to write I'm crashing instead. I'm hoping I'll be able to adjust soon but make no promises

Dead

Nothing tonight, try back tomorrow

Rebirth and Affliction Sneak Peek

A brief teaser of Chapter 15 - Wager:

Royal and Eleanor finally got back home and I knew I should avoid Royal at all costs. He and I were too different to ever get along. He didn't understand me and I just hated his guts. I supposed every family had their problems, and if there was a little bit – actually a lot – of rivalry between him and I, than I supposed it could be a lot worse.

I could have actually made it to Mexico. I shuddered at the thought.

The big issue was, normal families had a limited life span on issues like sibling rivalry or hatred. Between the fact that humans could forget what the argument was about and the very realistic reality that they only lived so long to begin with, all human rivalry eventually ended. Royal and I weren't human though and we'd never just suddenly forget we hated each other.

Our rivalry, unlike a human's, had the potential to never end. It wasn't exactly a pleasant thought.

The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Life Easter Egg

So, I've said before in my blog that The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Life is the only story which doesn't have vampires. While that is true, there are no true vampires in the story, I gave just a small hint of a type of human vampire subculture within the last ten chapters.

Did you recognize it?