Today, I am continuing the tale, but giving one lucky commenter a chance to grab a totebag. I only have three Initiation totebags and one is already on its way to a winner. You could be the next one and there might be a good surprise tucked into the bag too. This giveaway is for United States commenters only. Sorry.
Summary:
The Carpenter family tried to calm down Nana who read an article about witch burning still happening today. This is more upsetting to the Carpenters than most since they are witches.
Leah experiences a vision in which she thinks she sees the victim, but the girl turn out to be her. Not a good sign.
Excerpt
Nana eventually calmed down. Adam, Leah’s father, talked his determined mother-in-law out of calling the news organizations. Any negative attention might influence her father’s engineering job. Nana understood this on one hand, but on another, she didn’t since she chose not to hide what she was. Her grandmother had as much bravado as a drag queen in full costume demonstrating for marriage equality. There was a good chance she was pecking out a letter to the editor on her old typewriter. Leah had noticed a few of the letters in the papers, signed as Pagan Philosopher, had sounded exactly like Nana in full rant.
Her father had never mentioned the letters, which meant he hadn’t seen them or had realized he could exercise no control over his mother-in-law. For years, the family had maintained a careful balance trying to please both extended families. Father’s family was ultra-religious and had named their children Adam and Eve, somehow missing the incestuous connotation in the pairing. Everything that was part of the secular world was not only evil, but also forbidden. How he and her mother had ended up together appeared to be an unfathomable question. It could have been the lure of the forbidden, but more likely, it had started out as lust. Her father never would put it so bluntly, but she had seen the pictures of them together in college. No doubt, many men had craved her mother’s dark, almost foreign, beauty, but she’d chosen instead the shy, short, bespectacled engineering student.
Her mother’s reasoning for their romance was he accepted her the way she was. It would be great if someone accepted Leah for who she was. She peered at her own image in the mirror, complete with a disbelieving smirk. It indicated her non-belief of her father’s total acceptance of her mother. Nana had chided her son-in-law on numerous occasions for keeping quiet about their religious beliefs. Inquiries from his parents asking if they’d been to church that week were usually appeased by saying they had. He intentionally forgot to mention their services took place on a farm ten miles out of town, often under the light of a full moon. Her father had decided to follow the old ways to humor his wife, but Leah suspected it was mainly to get his mother-in-law off his back.
Setting her alarm clock for the school day, she noted five hours had passed since the news meltdown. Theodora, her cat, jumped on the bed, kneading the pillow with her paws as if preparing it. Leah knew the feline was making her own bed. Grabbing another pillow from the floor, she placed it on the bed. Dropping her clothes on the floor, she climbed between the cool sheets. Locking her hands behind her head, she stared at the ceiling, thinking about her parents’ relationship. Her parents got along better than most. Her family life was unusual in that she had both original parents living in the same house. Still, she wanted more than what they had, something stronger, bolder, something void of the timidity her father demonstrated in hiding from his parents that Maura was a witch, as was her grandmother.
No doubt, they had figured out Esmeralda Hare was a bit different, loving to play up the image of the carnival fortune-teller with flowing skirts, too much jewelry, and always wishing everyone a blessed day or merry meet again. The word most commonly used for Nana was “colorful.” Nora, Leah’s older sister, had confided once she’d overheard an argument between their parents over her father never telling his parents they didn’t celebrate Christmas or Easter. None of the kids had cared because they’d enjoyed the Easter baskets and Christmas presents given to them by their grandparents.
Grandfather had retired from the ministry the same time his wife had divorced him. Instead of warning everyone to stay on the straight and narrow, he’d donned tie-dyed shirts, drunk brewed beer, and attended the concerts of aging rock stars. Nora had pointed out that Grandfather would accept the family’s religion since he had changed so much on his own. Of course, her father chose to say nothing. As much as Leah loved her father, she acknowledged, if only to herself, most of his actions were motivated out of fear of being different or that people might not like him. It wasn’t so much that he accepted mother just how she was, but rather she accepted him with his fears, worries, and rules, able to see past everything to the caring man inside.
Scratching Theodora’s head, she confided to the cat, “I won’t be like that. I am who I am. It doesn’t matter what people think.”
The feline blinked her eyes as if commenting on the bold statement. Leah sighed. “You’re right. I know. For all my brave words, I am no better than my father.” Balling up her fist, she pounded her pillow in disgust. “Coward, that’s all I am.”
Threading her fingers under Theo’s heavy body, she cradled the cat. The cat let out a few plaintive mews, but resigned herself to the cuddling, even to the point of purring. “Theodora, what am I to do? I know I am a fraud. I talk of nothing of consequence to Dylan. Questions about homework, reactions to pop quizzes, and comments on the weather are another way to spell lame. Brianna, at least, flirts with him.”
Be part of the Pagan Eyes Street Team
Read all the series books first.
Get t-shirts, tote bags and mugs featuring Pagan Eyes logo.
Be part of monthly drawings for gift cards.
Start today by reading Initiation ARC.
Email me at raynanoire@juno.com
Summary:
The Carpenter family tried to calm down Nana who read an article about witch burning still happening today. This is more upsetting to the Carpenters than most since they are witches.
Leah experiences a vision in which she thinks she sees the victim, but the girl turn out to be her. Not a good sign.
Excerpt
Nana eventually calmed down. Adam, Leah’s father, talked his determined mother-in-law out of calling the news organizations. Any negative attention might influence her father’s engineering job. Nana understood this on one hand, but on another, she didn’t since she chose not to hide what she was. Her grandmother had as much bravado as a drag queen in full costume demonstrating for marriage equality. There was a good chance she was pecking out a letter to the editor on her old typewriter. Leah had noticed a few of the letters in the papers, signed as Pagan Philosopher, had sounded exactly like Nana in full rant.
Her father had never mentioned the letters, which meant he hadn’t seen them or had realized he could exercise no control over his mother-in-law. For years, the family had maintained a careful balance trying to please both extended families. Father’s family was ultra-religious and had named their children Adam and Eve, somehow missing the incestuous connotation in the pairing. Everything that was part of the secular world was not only evil, but also forbidden. How he and her mother had ended up together appeared to be an unfathomable question. It could have been the lure of the forbidden, but more likely, it had started out as lust. Her father never would put it so bluntly, but she had seen the pictures of them together in college. No doubt, many men had craved her mother’s dark, almost foreign, beauty, but she’d chosen instead the shy, short, bespectacled engineering student.
Her mother’s reasoning for their romance was he accepted her the way she was. It would be great if someone accepted Leah for who she was. She peered at her own image in the mirror, complete with a disbelieving smirk. It indicated her non-belief of her father’s total acceptance of her mother. Nana had chided her son-in-law on numerous occasions for keeping quiet about their religious beliefs. Inquiries from his parents asking if they’d been to church that week were usually appeased by saying they had. He intentionally forgot to mention their services took place on a farm ten miles out of town, often under the light of a full moon. Her father had decided to follow the old ways to humor his wife, but Leah suspected it was mainly to get his mother-in-law off his back.
Setting her alarm clock for the school day, she noted five hours had passed since the news meltdown. Theodora, her cat, jumped on the bed, kneading the pillow with her paws as if preparing it. Leah knew the feline was making her own bed. Grabbing another pillow from the floor, she placed it on the bed. Dropping her clothes on the floor, she climbed between the cool sheets. Locking her hands behind her head, she stared at the ceiling, thinking about her parents’ relationship. Her parents got along better than most. Her family life was unusual in that she had both original parents living in the same house. Still, she wanted more than what they had, something stronger, bolder, something void of the timidity her father demonstrated in hiding from his parents that Maura was a witch, as was her grandmother.
No doubt, they had figured out Esmeralda Hare was a bit different, loving to play up the image of the carnival fortune-teller with flowing skirts, too much jewelry, and always wishing everyone a blessed day or merry meet again. The word most commonly used for Nana was “colorful.” Nora, Leah’s older sister, had confided once she’d overheard an argument between their parents over her father never telling his parents they didn’t celebrate Christmas or Easter. None of the kids had cared because they’d enjoyed the Easter baskets and Christmas presents given to them by their grandparents.
Grandfather had retired from the ministry the same time his wife had divorced him. Instead of warning everyone to stay on the straight and narrow, he’d donned tie-dyed shirts, drunk brewed beer, and attended the concerts of aging rock stars. Nora had pointed out that Grandfather would accept the family’s religion since he had changed so much on his own. Of course, her father chose to say nothing. As much as Leah loved her father, she acknowledged, if only to herself, most of his actions were motivated out of fear of being different or that people might not like him. It wasn’t so much that he accepted mother just how she was, but rather she accepted him with his fears, worries, and rules, able to see past everything to the caring man inside.
Scratching Theodora’s head, she confided to the cat, “I won’t be like that. I am who I am. It doesn’t matter what people think.”
The feline blinked her eyes as if commenting on the bold statement. Leah sighed. “You’re right. I know. For all my brave words, I am no better than my father.” Balling up her fist, she pounded her pillow in disgust. “Coward, that’s all I am.”
Threading her fingers under Theo’s heavy body, she cradled the cat. The cat let out a few plaintive mews, but resigned herself to the cuddling, even to the point of purring. “Theodora, what am I to do? I know I am a fraud. I talk of nothing of consequence to Dylan. Questions about homework, reactions to pop quizzes, and comments on the weather are another way to spell lame. Brianna, at least, flirts with him.”
Be part of the Pagan Eyes Street Team
Read all the series books first.
Get t-shirts, tote bags and mugs featuring Pagan Eyes logo.
Be part of monthly drawings for gift cards.
Start today by reading Initiation ARC.
Email me at raynanoire@juno.com