A Snippet: Forward from "Staked!" by Author Tom Hernandez

Soon, my pretties, soon...

And now, the excerpt:




Generally speaking, I am not much for fantasy or science fiction.

Sure, I’ve enjoyed several Ann Rice books – who, after all cannot love Lestat? – and a few Ray Bradbury classics. I am aware of the genius of Isaac Asimov, though, I confess I have not read anything of his.

I have watched the first three of Peter Jackson’s magnificent “Lord of the Rings” saga. Still, I have not read any of Tolkien’s master works. After seeing the movies, I don’t think I ever will, though the entire collection sits right now in my attic library. Just too much…I don’t know, “complication” for my brain, already stretched, strained and stressed with reality’s many rigors.

Staked! hits many of those fantasy/science fiction notes

Yet I loved it.

Truth be told, I loved both of its predecessors, too.

The first, Bryony, told the tale of a 1970s teenager, Melissa Marchellis. Missing her recently-deceased father, Melissa falls head-over-heels in love with the idea of love – or, more precisely, the vampire who embodies it, and offers it to her. That love comes at a steep price, but the girl is more than willing to pay it, as so many teen girls are.

Visage continued Melissa’s story, now as a young adult. Melissa heads off to college, her vampire fling having ended in flames. Even there, though, Melissa cannot – or does not want to – leave her past in the past. So, when she falls for a hot music professor who bears an uncanny resemblance to her dead (un-dead?) vampire lover, well...

Complicated books, sure. Overflowing with elements that don’t usually trip my literary wire, certainly.

Yet I enjoyed them precisely because they aren’t really about what they seem to be about.

Tom Hernandez, Author

Chocolate Cows and Purple Cheese, and other tales from the homefront
http://www.amazon.com/Chocolate-Cows-And-Purple-Cheese/dp/1440137986