Phoenix Builds a Cover

I haven't written this out as a story because I don't have time.  I'm working on a fan fiction short story right now and preparing for NaNoWriMo.  The fan fiction is from the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences world and I'm only at 2000+ words.  My goal is 7.5k by the 30th (small for practice). However, I didn't want to forget last night’s dream, so I'm writing the summarized version today.  It's just another plot line for Phoenix that provides the opportunity for supporting characters.  ----      She selects a new brother from the hard streets of LA strung up on cocaine, to support her new cover. Phoenix takes him to a rehab clinic and visits during the weekends. They work on their relationship as brother and sister (playing scrabble and chess). She prepares identification paperwork for him and changes his history to that of a healthy good student.  Phoenix moves them to a place where they can reinvent themselves and enrolls them to the local school (college/high school). He becomes her identity cover, a brother, a friend, and a side kick. He has a second chance at a rich life on a platter because of her.  She informs him that she has secrets and only trust and time will reveal them. He suspects her ability to read minds early on as she busts him before he falls off the wagon. As their relationship grows he learns of her healing capabilities and that she can manipulate air (telekinesis).  ---- In reality I think I miss my family and my unofficially adopted brother Chris. I truly hope everyone is doing well. 

Lunch with Philippa Ballentine and (MIA Tee Morris)

     Meet a published writer: Check!          About a couple months ago I started to follow the blazing trail of Philippa Ballentine and Tee Morris across the Internet.  I picked up the trail when I caught wind of the name “Phoenix” in my Twitter stream.  Those that I follow is mostly made up of technology and design geeks.  If you’ve been reading my previous post I’ve designated one of my characters with that name.        It is the original re-tweet from Pip to Tee then by Joel Cochran (BlendSig founder) as a follower of Tee:      I hit the link and found a rabbit whole worth exploring.  I purchased Pip’s Geist first, because out of her books I thought this would fit right in my spectrum.  I read it in 2 days and posted a review.  It fit my mold, but then it did something else exciting.  It opened my eyes to an array of explosive creativity.  Pip’s world, in A Book of the Order series, re-organized my book collection (so to speak, as I read a lot on Kindle now) and pointed me at a new direction of fantasy novels.  She also expanded my reading range and introduced me to Steampunk.  I knew of it, but had a wan interest.  I equate it to be like when someone mentions LARP (live action role play) and considered it a nerdy fad.  To answer your question, yes, I realize that I am a geek, but not a nerd.  Over the last two months I have become very excited about learning more on Steampunk.      Back to the topic, today I had lunch at Bungalow Alehouse in Gainesville, VA (one of their favorites) with Pip Ballentine.  Unfortunately, Tee Morris was unable to attend.  He was needed at work to provide business justifications to his IT department on why he should have a Mac (tell them you need to test the company sites from a Mac for accessibility).        I went into this luncheon with the mind set of zero expectations and no in-depth questions.  Mainly, I just wanted to be friends with these awesome folk who I have a lot of commonalities with.  This is the first time I’ve ever reached out to a celeb personality, although Pip doesn’t admit to it.  For as outspoken as they are, I would expect that the sky is the limit, as far as media popularity is concerned.      The first thing she did when we meet was gave me a hug.  All of my friends who read this now know exactly why I like her.  We talked about Tee and Boom (yeah, you know it), books and stories, tips and support for writing, NaNoWriMo, writing music, traveling, parents, dragons, and laundry.  It was a wonderful 1+ hour of friendly conversation.  I had no reason to be nervous, especially, as we easily jump into our conversations.  It was an enriching experience and I hope that we can do it again.     Thanks Pip for your entertainment on the paper, internet, radio, and in person!  Congratulations to Pip and Tee for their wedding on Saturday 10/8/2011!

First Appearance of Phoenix

Below is the first appearance of Phoenix in my dreams.  I shared this with a couple of my friends a while back, but now that I’m blogging I thought I’d post this here.   I wrote this up on March 23, 2011.  In my dream there is a small story that happens before this and hopefully I’ll get a chance to post it.  However, I don’t like doing things out of order when they belong together, so please post a comment of encouragement.  This is also in a different perspective than my other Phoenix postings.  She is in high school in this story and doesn’t have the cycle problem.  That came later when I decided she needed a Kryptonite to go with all of her gifts.   ……………      She pulled his hand close under the water to see his wounds and gently stroked the top of his hand to wash away the pain, blood, and evidence of the emotional violence that happened just an hour ago.  While holding onto his hand she followed an urge and place it on her cheek.   He moved his hand gently, but the spell was broken.  Phoenix embarrassingly came to her senses and withdrew from the brief intimate contact with Jeremy.  She knew him, but then again she knew everyone.   No thoughts where private to a mind reader.   If he wasn’t a teenage boy she suspected he would have been offended by her actions.             As she emerged from the large swimming pool she said  "I am sorry.  I shouldn't have done that."      With her back towards him and her face hidden from view, she quickly pulled for the towel near him.  Jeremy jumped, but didn't panic, as the white towel floated from the patio furniture towards Phoenix.  It slipped around her blocking the view that he was obviously distracted by.      "I am sorry again.  I've let you into my world and I started to fall into my normal habits.  I'll stop using my abilities."      "It's just… " Jeremy paused to gather his thoughts "...I'm okay."      After tucking the towel in to keep it from falling, she carefully walked to the dressing rooms on the east side of the pool.      "I will meet you in the dining hall.  Forester will show you the way." In the changing room she could dry her hair and dress without raising Jeremy's anxiety levels.  This isn't the first time her secrets where out in the open, but it is the first time with an unprepared civilian.  If she couldn't trust him she would either run again or be pulled back into the government to do their bidding.  She had worked long enough in secret, this was her time to be free and strengthen her ties to the human race.       "Please let him keep my secret." she said it out aloud in an effort to commit strength to the words.       She used the pool frequently so having several changes of clothes nearby was just a matter of convenient.  Deciding on a simple mask, a long night slip and robe from the dressing rooms collection took as much time as dressing.  The mask was black, silk, slim, and not the typical over the top full concealment masks she wore to school.  It didn't cover her mouth, because she needed to eat after today’s exhausting event.      The dining hall was also in the East wing and Phoenix took the inner door to the far end of the long hall way past the kitchen and the parlor room.  When she purchase this house it was mainly due to the closeness of the kitchen to her bedroom.  She hated cold food.  …

Obsessed with Scenes (Part 2: Dark Mystery)

Rating: Work safe, but adult concepts. Genre: female, smut, fantasy I’ll get started without too much delay, but wanted to express that Phoenix and Tyler are now seated in a lounge area on the private balcony above security. Time has passed and they’ve become comfortable with each other. I left in a removed pieces with strikethroughs just to show you another way the story played out in my head. …………… My spider sense started tingling as my sight landed on a tall muscular man with a ominous expression looking towards Tyler. He arguing with a husky security guard at the top of the stairs and trying to push his way past.  He was just beyond the limits of my empathic abilities. “Is he your next appointment?” I leaned over and asked. “No. He shouldn’t be up here.” Concern and guilt flushed through Tyler.  He took a look at his business partners across the table and then back up at the upset man.  He seamed to be trying to prepare himself. “I’ll delay him.” Tyler looked at me with a little surprise, but then nodded.  From the beginning of the night he had expressed that he didn’t want any personal attachments and yet here I was volunteering for a little piece of his.  I kissed his cheek, moved out from the table where we sat, and used my most alluring walk as I headed towards the dark stranger.  Of course, the walk was for everyone's benefits, after all I needed to play my part. “My name is Phoenix and you are going to dance with me.” I stepped in front of his path. “Excuse me.” The rough voice matched the man. He began to move in an effort to pass me, but quickly noticed that I was not going to get out of his way. “I need to speak with that man.” He gestured towards Tyler and still did not look at me. I could sense his feelings of loss covered by anger now that I was closer. “I don’t know what your reasons are, but I can tell that you intend him harm. You’re also carrying a weapon strapped to your ankle which is not getting any closer to your target.” and this is why I’m studying Psychology, so that I can talk my way out of terrible situations instead of using my abilities. “If you want to speak with Tyler I’ll need to take the bullets.” “He is busy, but I’m not.  Dance with me and I’ll bring you back.” This time I added a raised chest at the end of my statement. Now he looked at me. The look ran from my head to my toes and enticed my inner fire to grow hotter. Damn men, I thought, why does my body conflict with the rest of me? This guy is obviously dangerous and unstable. I suspect he is considering why someone so tiny has confidence written in her eyes. Before he could speak the words of defiance that I knew were coming, I said “Or I can call security to escort you out. It all depends on how badly you need to speak with him.” He considered his options while switching his destructive glance between Tyler and me. “Fine, but you don’t understand I don’t want him dead just want a confession, even if I must beat it out of him.  I want him imprisoned. You should know that he puts the women around him in danger.” He wants me to sympathize and be on his side of the story. I moved towards him and slowly dropped down to my knees. Reaching my hands to his right lower pants, I summoned up my telekinesis to make this a smooth and discreet process. I didn’t want to alert the others on the balcony that there was a gun in the room. People would reach for their cell phones hoping to grab a video of some violent scene as they backed out of the area. I lifted the gun from the holster. It was a revolver 38 caliber, nice concealed weapon. Opened the chamber and pushed the five rounds into my hand that was still under his pant leg. Put the gun back into place and attempted to be graceful as I stood up. “You can ask for these back when you leave.”  I lead him away from Tyler down the stairs and onto the dance floor.  He is a hands on dancer or what I would deem a Latin dancer.  Not bad, but it definitely meant I would not last until morning without sex.  I’d push away or pull back from him just to ease the strain in my muscles.  After the fourth song ended, I indicated it was time to return. Looking at me with desire he leaned down and said “You can leave with me.” That was odd, whatever happened to this man he genuinely thought I was in danger. I trust my abilities and I know that Tyler has no intention of harming me, but this stranger’s impression made me question my gifts. “I am Tyler’s… for tonight.” I never break my commitments. He straightened and changed his expression back to ominous. I guess the conversation is over. Unfortunately I don’t think I had any effect on his goal for the night.  I took his arm as we walked back to the private balcony.  Tyler’s visitors were no longer at the table and his expression told me he had been watching us dance and that he was almost as hungry as I was.  No jealousy, just simple adult attraction.  After turning around, I gave Tyler my hopeless look and moved back to sit at his side. while slipping the bullets into a napkin. He placed his arm over my shoulder and attempted to control a small flash of irritation directed at Mr. Dark. “Alex, please let’s not go over this again.” Tyler lowered his head. I swear he would make a wonderful politician. Because underneath that humbling gesture, the man’s temper was growing. “We will go over this again and again until my sister returns.” Alex’s voice started to increase in volume and the table next to us glanced over. “You were the last person to see her. Her purse was found just outside on the street with blood on it.” He lifted his arms to point at the front of the club. “Where is she?” “As I’ve told the police, Chelsea left my place in the morning with every intention to go home. We even made plans to see each other again that night.” “Here you are, with another girl on your arm, going through the motions of moving on.” I could spot a couple of security guards approaching.  Tyler must have made preparations in case things got out of hand.  He raised his hand at the wrist to signal them to stay back. He gave me a sympathetic look and shifted his arm to stand up. “Alex, I’ve given you the truth. I’ve posted fliers out front. I’ve had my entire staff questioned. I’ve allowed my customers to be questioned and I’ve been kind about your attempts to point suspicion at me. I want Chelsea back and safe, but you don’t get to assume the nature of our relationship or my personal life. You will leave tonight, but if you publically question me again, I will ban you from this club. I know what it means to you to be here and continue your search. I’m not the bad guy, but I will be if you keep pressing.” I didn’t need my empathy to know how furious Tyler became during his response, his eyes, posture and voice threw it in Alex’s direction. Alex held out his hand towards me. “I’ll have my things back now.” I placed the folded napkin in his hand. Tyler gave me a questioned look with a raised eyebrow. It’s probably better for both of them if Tyler didn’t know about the gun. He wanted less drama, this is me removing it. Besides now that I know their connection I feel that neither is in danger of losing their lives. I shook my head and watched Alex leave with his two escorts. Alex released his stare down with Tyler to give me a final look and said “Thank you for the dancing.  Stay safe.” The dark man turned and left with as much anger as when he entered.

Obsessed with Scenes (Part 1: Owner’s Prerogative)

Rating: Explicit Suggestions Genre: female, smut, fantasy Like all the good writers most stories come from dreams, but unlike most for me it’s an obsession dream that I repeat nightly. Once I dream up a great story idea I go through the process of analyzing the details. I program my brain to dream about it nightly including multiple scenarios until I’m comfortable with the end results. Even then I continue the same dreams for the absolute fun of it. My most recent dream scene happens to take place in a city club. My main character is Phoenix, who is an attractive 22 years old female with blond hair that reaches the small of her back. Her gorgeous tangle free hair has a few ringlets and is held back by six small braids along the sides. She is 5 foot 9 inches without shoes and has curves to drool over. I don’t want to spoil who she is at this time so you’ll get no background information out of me. The picture provided of Phoenix was done by my good friend Jon-Paul Maki.  You can reach him through his web site if your interested in bringing characters to life or turning yourself into a character.  Click Heroic Portraits for his website and portraits@heroicportraits.com for email. …………… While standing outside in line at the entrance of the city’s number two night club, wearing my short hooded black robe, I could feel the fiery pain threatening to build within my body. The club’s external security camera stopped panning through the crowd outside to rest in my direction.  I’m guessing my long legs captured the attention of the security team.  Why not show a little more.  I pulled back the hood and pulled my long hair out from under my robe.  Several seconds later the camera’s panning cycle returned and then about five minutes later a tall slender female, dressed in black slacks and a white blouse, emerged from the club heading towards me.  Her hair was pinned up in a lazy bun and her eyes stared me down with professional superiority. “Please come with me.” She unfastened the guiding rope to let me step out of line.  No way was I going to pass up the opportunity at a quick entrance to Vita Ballare. I easily followed her through the security check point, side stepping the metal detector, and then we stopped at the coat check counter. She glanced at me expectantly. I could only assume she wanted me to leave my robe and didn’t want to call out over the loud rhythmic music. Her expression shouted enough by saying that she had done this at least a hundred times and wasn’t in the mood for the small talk.  There is nothing wrong with playing follow the leader.  No one knows me here and I haven’t done anything wrong, yet.  Besides I can’t show off my new look with a cover on top.  For today’s hunting, I choose to wear my black corset top with baby blue satin ties around the back and shoulders. My skirt is a short wrap also made from the same blue satin with black stitching and waste band. The skirt is perfect for clubbing, because of the invisible pocket sewn in to the front to store my ID and credit cards.  Voila, no purse needed.  I exchanged my robe with the lady behind the counter for a numbered ticket and put it in my hide away pocket. As the slender lady lead me further in I took this opportunity to perform my routine surveillance analysis. There are four marked emergency exits, twenty-two security cameras, at least six guards in the viewable area, probably four to five more in the building, and a large open ceiling with another two exit points. The rectangle club has a large open space running through the center of a 4 floor building with the stage at the West and the bar at the East. I entered from the South East, which is closest to the bar end. On the long North and South sides there are two sets of stairs leading up to a balcony. Under the North balcony is the kitchen and under the South is security, coat closet and restrooms. Behind and above the balconies, spanning to the ceiling, are the upper two floors with rows of black windows that overlooked the dance floor. We stopped in front of an elevator, just passed the bar, and she waved her security key in front of the call device. The doors opened, I followed her in, and then silence came when they closed. While staring at the elevator door she spoke in the predicted monotone voice “My name is Evlyn. I will get you anything you need. We are heading up to the owner’s office, Tyler Barnelle, he wishes to speak with you. What is your name?” With the characteristics of an innocent person I said “Phoenix Reyse. What’s this about?” I didn’t want to bite the hand, as they say.  After all, I did just get into a popular club downtown without waiting long or paying the entrance fee as a non-member. Evlyn didn’t respond or look away from that fixed spot on the elevator door as it opened on the third floor. Apparently she wasn’t going to spoil the surprise.  She led me down a hallway with the outside windows on the left and doors on the right. Evlyn opened the first set of double doors we came too. I was stunned by the sudden change of atmosphere. This room’s design was unexpected of a night time club.  For one there was no pink, green or purple fluffy furniture.  It was more suited for a small law firm with its beautiful mahogany wood and rich brown leather furniture. It had a gorgeous desk on the right with two large comfortable chairs in front of it and one behind. Bookshelves and cabinets lined the walls behind the desk. On the left was a sitting area with a couple of elegant leather sofas, a large coffee table, and a large plasma television mounted on the wall that was displaying six of the security camera feeds.  Covering the far wall was a wide curtain, colored in red with brown accents that I presume covered the windows overlooking the dance floor. There were two other doors on the left wall and a man exiting from the farthest. Evlyn cleared her throat and said “Tyler, this is Phoenix Reyse.” My empathy skills flared up on her irritation towards her boss, and here I was thinking I was being lead around by unreadable stone.  Her emotional distraction lasted only a couple seconds and became entirely forgotten as Mr. Barnelle turned to look at me. He glanced up at us with eyes that had flecks of green, blue, and brown. “Thank you, Evy.” I didn’t need my eyes, the pull of fire in my abdomen, told me how attractive he is. The vibes running along my empathy confirmed he was interested too.  This is one of the best reasons to be an empath, no guessing if a boy likes you.  Tyler was taller than me with long sandy blonde hair pulled back on top. He was wearing a dark blue classic button up shirt with a vintage print on the left shoulder, casual black slacks, and what I could only guess was designer shoes.  He did look club ready, but if he put on a blazer he would also fit perfectly behind the desk. “Please come have a seat, Phoenix.” He is definitely smooth and I was willing to be very compliant. I took a seat on the nearby couch facing him. “I would like you to be mine for this evening.” He remained standing. “I need to keep up appearances as a lady’s man for tonight, however I don’t want the drama that is involved with pursuing a legitimate date. I don’t have time or the desire to engage in someone else's personal life. I find you physically pleasing and will see to it that you are spoiled. You came here alone, so I presume you do not have a date.  You will stay by my side for only this evening.  I will not lead you on, the connect between us will not go any further then tonight.  My expectations are all for show.  Do you understand?” I didn’t expect this, however, I can understand not wanted to get emotionally invested. I had to die in order to separate myself from all my connections and, even now, I only have one connection that I was forced into trusting. Forester is more of a guardian then someone who I would call a friend. He didn’t choose to accept my drama and for the most part wanted nothing to do with it. I must have paused in thought to long when he added “I feel that being up front about my needs is the best way to avoid unnecessary discomfort. Do you have any questions?” I may as well be truthful about my needs. The biggest need is to dissolve the growing fire beneath my skin. I’ve got at least until tomorrow afternoon before I cross the line and the pain becomes unbearable. My intention for tonight’s outing is to sedate the fire until the next cycle by having a one night stand.  It has been three months since my escape and the last two cycles I have damaged my hiding place, completely terrified Forester, and nearly intentionally killed myself.  I wish I didn’t have to do this, but there is no supplier that couldn’t be traced and I wasn’t about to form another connection just to abuse him.  Especially considering that my primary need is something only a man can fulfill.  It’s either this or burn in maddening pain for four days.  It is my turn to be candid. “Will we be having sex?” He wasn’t surprised. I wonder how often he had these non-personal dates. “I am interested, although it is not expected. It would be mutual consent and the agreement would still stand.  Nothing beyond tonight.” He took a couple steps closer and then sat down across from me. It is clever that he is using tactics to show me that he sees us as equals. I feel nothing but sincerity and a slight squint of curiosity rolling off of him. Too bad I couldn’t get to know this man better; he would be a wonderful study subject for my thesis in Psychology.  His emotions were controlled, he meant what he said, however he gave no clues as to why he needs to, for lack of a better interpretation, to buy a date.  My own curiosity will get me killed, but not today. “I will be your date for this evening.” I responded. Like he mentioned nothing personal needed to be said, so why use excessive communication. He focused intently on my eyes looking for the unheard questions and then nodded. He stood up and reached his hand out for me. Lucky for me this brief non-relationship was my ideal fix for my situation. We will enjoy each other’s company and depart with no mess.  No guilt over never returning calls or making promises that I can’t keep.  Sex is a go and so tonight's mission is a success. “I have several social meetings with business contacts throughout tonight. Evy will bring them to us in the members’ only balcony. ” I took his hand and let him lead me back down the elevator and into the vibrant sounds of a spinner’s personal mix. ……………… Obsessed with too much details aren’t I? I will write more about the second scene in the club. ………………