Murder, Betrayal, Comeuppance…

Murder, Betrayal, Comeuppance…

That’s the tagline for my novella, Blood Soup, available from Eternal Press on September 7. The “Coming Soon” announcements page has recently been posted. You can see it here.

Blood Soup will also be available in print via Amazon, about three weeks after the electronic version.

Do you tweet? Do you like FREE fiction?
I’ll be running two twitter contests related to the book, both on September 7th:

First: The 25th and 50th person to re-tweet my announcement on the 7th will win an electronic copy of Blood Soup.

Second: Anyone who buys Blood Soup will also have the opportunity to win print versions of Triangulation: Dark Glass and Black Dragon, White Dragon (two anthologies that some of my other work appears in) just by tweeting specific information from Blood Soup. For instance, I’ll tweet: What’s the last word on line 4 of page 22? Give the correct answer and you may win a book. I’ll give away up to five print versions of these books. More details to come closer to the launch date. In the meantime, you may want to follow me on twitter: @kellyaharmon.

Excerpt from Blood Soup:

Theodicar looked down at the mewling infant in his arms, and felt the anger rise up. Even in death his wife defied him, the nurse ensuring her success. Women did not rule. He would not allow it. They had created a male child, and that child would take the throne upon his death. “You can save the boy,” he said to Salvagia.

She slitted her eyes at him, her stare mutinous. Her words were loud and hard in the wake of Pia’s death. “I have the power to save one at the expense of the other, Sire. The girl is stronger. And eldest. She was born to rule.”

Theodicar watched the girl curl up in his arms, her birth fluids staining a brown patch on the dyed-yellow wool of his tunic. She burrowed into the crook of his elbow, trying to achieve the comfort of the womb.

“I will not hear those words again,” he said. “That absurd idea died with my wife. My son will rule.” He reached for the boy, thrusting the girl child back into the nurse’s hands. “There’s no need for a daughter. And no need for anyone to know of her.”

“So be it,” Salvagia said, wrapping the weary girl in a square of wool, covering her face. She reached for her basket.

“Kill her now,” said Theodicar.

Salvagia looked stricken.

“Sire, if we kill her now, she will be of no use to her brother. Once dead, the blood won’t flow, and we need her blood to strengthen his.

“Then drain her now,” he snapped. “I will not have her crying out when we call the witnesses back to cut the boy’s cord.”

She paled, but nodded, and grabbed the necessary implements from her basket. She did the job quickly, tears streaming down her face. To keep it warm, Salvagia set the flask of blood in the ashes at the edge of the hearth. Then she wrapped the tiny body in linen and shoved it deep into her basket.

“Your life is forfeit if you speak a word of this to anyone,” Theodicar said. “Do you understand?” She nodded, pushing the basket out of view.

He sat down in his chair. “Call the witnesses back. We’ll sever the cord in their presence to prove the succession. Wipe those tears,” he said.