Apocrypha!

Today sees the return of the rather wonderful Suzanne G Rogers, fellow Musa author, to this blog, to promote her rather wonderful-sounding new short story, "Apocrypha."

Suzanne, you have the floor...








Being dedicated to the diabolical doesn’t seem to satisfy Jem anymore. When the gorgeous demon poses for elderly artist Greer Richmond, the two form a connection. Greer senses good in her, but Jem rebels against the idea by going on a Vegas bender. After Jem gets word Greer is about to die, she inexplicably wants to make sure he gets to heaven—but her boss has other plans. As penance for her interference, Jem is assigned to take one of Greer’s descendants instead. Unfortunately handsome Dare Richmond awakens feelings in Jem a demon isn’t supposed to have. Will Jem be able to complete her task, or has fate dealt the demon an impossible hand?

Apocrypha…because sometimes, even for a demon, love is in the cards.

Excerpt:

“I’ve been experiencing a little job dissatisfaction,” I said.

It just popped out. I couldn’t believe I’d said it, but the old man had the sort of face you could talk to. He didn’t respond, however, and I flicked a glance at him to make sure he was listening.

“Hold steady, my dear,” he said. “After I get your mouth right you can tell me about it.”

I sighed and waited for the geezer to finish sketching my mouth. To be honest, I really did want him to get it right. I have a very nice pair of lips for a demon, even if I do say so myself. It was too bad he couldn’t just take a picture, but since demons can’t be photographed, we were stuck doing my portrait the old-fashioned way. I shouldn’t have called him a geezer, even though technically that’s what he is. His name is Greer Richmond and he’s older than dirt. Of course, I am too, but I look considerably fresher than he does.

“You were saying?” Greer prompted, a few moments later.

“Oh, yeah—well, when I started out as a young demon, it was all fun and games,” I continued. “I made a big splash with the whole missing Roanoke colony thing.”

“That was you?” Greer asked. “I’ve often wondered what the Lost Colony was all about.”

He was sketching my hair at that moment. I had to squelch the temptation to toss a lock of it over one shoulder. That took some doing—squelching temptation isn’t one of my strong suits. I’m usually better at egging it on.

“Yeah, Roanoke was one of my first projects. I really scored points with the Boss on that one.

"Lizzie Borden was another high point,” I gloated. “Those were the days.”

“What has changed?”

“A lot of up-and-coming newbies are total buzzkillers. It’s become a demon-eat-demon world, and a bunch of recent flashy ‘inexplicable’ events have made it impossible to stand out from the crowd,” I said.

“Don’t get me wrong—9/11 was impressive, I’ll grant you. But it seems as if demons are increasingly sacrificing quality for the quick thrill.”

Greer leveled a look at me that had nothing to do with the sketch. “Are you sure that’s all there is to it?”
****
As it turns out, no, that’s not all there is to it. What would be the fun of that? And to celebrate the twelve days of Christmas, Musa Publishing will release Apocrypha as a free read on December 7th.
Download Apocrypha through December, 2011 HERE. Happy Holidays!

Author Bio: In her former lives, S.G. Rogers was a lawyer and an actress, but she’s now grown up and settled down as an author. Drawn to fantasy literature, she’s lived in some of the most magical places in America, including La Jolla, California, Asheville, North Carolina, and currently Savannah, Georgia. She resides with her son, husband, and two hairless cats—which look and act quite a bit like dragons. When she’s not writing, she enjoys practicing martial arts. You can find S.G. Rogers at www.childofyden.com.