When we were getting ready to release Bryony back in 2011, my daughter Sarah (who did a lot of the marketing for me) suggested I pull thirty teaser quotes from the book that she could post on Facebook, one each day.
KELLEN WECHSLER
CHAPTER 1: ASHES
Laech scowled at Metta. "You bad girl. If you were my daughter, I'd whip you." He glanced at Metta's man. "Whip her good, Captain Wechsler."
CHAPTER
2: FORBIDDEN FRUIT
In later years, Kellen Wechsler would tell it like this: The only door that ever opened to him was the womb, and even that was to spit him out into a cruel world where everything good, bad, and indifferent was denied him.
CHAPTER
3: THE VISION
Kellen married Catarin in May, enlarged the family hut in June, and baptized his first son, Allecke, in July. Ten months later, the Wechslers welcomed their first daughter, Marige, into the world. Three more sons (Jurgen, Otto, Hilmar) and three more daughters (Eugell, Alheit, and Leveke) arrived one after the other. During that time, death also claimed Marige, Otto, and Eugell. After that, Kellen stopped noting the children's appearance or disappearance and let Catarin do the naming and tracking.
CHAPTER
4: BEATEN DOWN
"Wechsler," Herr Schapmester said as Kellen led his family into church. "Come to my office before you head out to the farm. It appears you've shorted us a ducat or two."
Kellen paused and glanced at Catarin who glanced at Metta who twisted the littlest girl's arm. Catarin tossed her head and marched through the doorway, Metta and the children following her.
"Have your men recalculate," Kellen said. "I have fulfilled my obligations."
"What's the matter Wechsler?
Can't settle your debts like a man?"
"I have settled all the debts I
intend to settle."
Herr Schapmester's cheeks flushed beneath his
beard. "We shall see, Wechsler. We shall see."
The next day, Nolthe flew into the
house while Kellen was stepping into his breeches, bawling that he couldn't
hitch the horses to the cart because the horses were dead.
CHAPTER
5: BLACK DEATH
Wailing, wailing. Everywhere, wailing.
If not wailing, then eerie, uneasy, disquieting silence.
Both were for the same reasons: Death.
Black, grisly, painful death.
It happened fast, and it happened like this.
CHAPTER
6: ANGEL OR DEMON?
Tonight, Kellen promised himself as he stepped over the sticky mess, tonight he and Margaret would keep it simple, coffee and a hamburger.
When he returned, Margaret, resembling a battered raccoon with last night's mascara smeared across her face, was propped up in bed, sucking peanut butter from a spoon and listening to Lux Radio Theater. After a quick scan of the headlines, Kellen shed his clothes and slid back between the sheets, his mind already wavering somewhere between the cool pillowcase and Fibber McGee and Molly.
"Switch it off when you're
done, darling," Kellen slurred.
CHAPTER
7: STARTING FRESH
Kellen had positioned himself upon the chest of the Burgermeister of Seulobitz and was contemplating which vein provided the juiciest first bite by playing Ene, tene, mone, mei, when the Burgermeister opened his eyes and recoiled.
"Mein Gott! It's
Beelzebub!"
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm
nothing of the sort." Kellen tossed his head, and sniffed in mock offense,
irked that the man's wakefulness would kill the sweet taste in his blood.
"I'm just a midnight mirage bringing eternal slumber." He pointed a
claw at the man's wide nose. "Now make this pleasanter for both of us and
go back to sleep."
CHAPTER
8: JUST SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE
Abruptly, Kellen stopped. There it was: 4 East 7th Street.
“Well,”
Kellen said aloud. “Well, well, well, well, well.”
He should have known. The place where illusion met realit
Reality. Kellen gave a short laugh.
CHAPTER NINE: THE SUITE LIFE
"Coffee?" the devil asked in a nasal voice through tightly clamped fingers.
"Coffee...and cognac."
Twirling his tail, the devil
scampered to the kitchen screaming, "One vessel of mortal sins, with a
squirt of molten brimstone!"
CHAPTER
10: THE VACATION
No comments:
Post a Comment