Blast from the Past: BLINDSIGHT ( AKA The Never-ending Story ) by Sarah Raplee

{This Blast from the Past was first published in 2017.}

Hi, I’m Sarah Raplee and I’m a closet perfectionist.

That’s the main reason it took me seven years to finish my first book. I am a slow writer. And things like births, deaths, illnesses, surgeries, business slowdowns—the stuff of lives being lived—played a part. As did co-managing this blog, and writing half-a dozen short stories, three of which have been included in anthologies.

The publication of BLINDSIGHT, my debut paranormal romantic suspense novel, is a testament to stubborn perseverance, faith and the kindness (and patience) of my family and my “tribe” of fellow writers.

Sometimes I felt like this book would never end. I wrote. I re-wrote. I edited. I ‘fixed’ things. I delved deeper into characters and theme. I paid an editor to find more things for me to improve upon. Her advice was sound and made the book stronger (and taught me a lot). Then…I polished. And polished. And, as my husband likes to point out, I changed happy to glad and back again many, many times.

My husband also told me it was time to “shoot the engineer and build the device,” which translates into “shoot the writer and publish the book.” But something held me back. After much prayer and meditation and consultation with friends, I finally internalized the truth that no book is perfect—and that’s okay. It was the part about it being okay that I hadn’t really taken to heart.

No book is perfect because no writer is perfect, and that’s also okay. As poet Joyce Kilmer so eloquently put it, “Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.”

SARAH RAPLEE

After this epiphany, I finished the book. BLINDSIGHT is not perfect, but my Beta readers loved it. And that is more than enough to make me happy.

BLINDSIGHT, Book 1 in the FBI Psychic Agents Series, will be published by Windtree Press and available at all major E-Bookstores on Valentine’s Day.

BLINDSIGHT BLURB:

A tenacious FBI Psychic Agent who can find anything…
A lonely blind woman with a dangerous kiss…
A brutal psychic criminal obsessed with killing one and controlling the other…

FBI Level-10 Dowser Hector Guerrero, undercover at a drug lord’s remote wilderness wedding, learns the man that murdered his family plans to kidnap the psychically Talented blind wedding singer. Unable to allow the Cartel to enslave another victim, he tries to protect her and ends up in a torture chamber.

Luckily, Melisenda Smith is as resourceful as she is beautiful—and she needs Hector’s help to escape with her elderly guide dog. Fighting a perilous attraction, Meli and Hector must rely on one another to survive a relentless wilderness pursuit. When they stumble onto the Cartel’s hidden prison camp Hector’s been seeking, will ghosts from his past destroy their chance for a future together?

EXCERPT:

Melisenda set her drink down and tipped her head to one side as if she could see straight through him from behind her dark lenses. “Are you a friend of the bride or the groom?”

Hector blinked. “Uh, I’m here for the groom. I’m one of his bodyguards, currently off-duty.”

He scanned the room for Killingsworth and spotted him moving toward the bar. Biding his time. Sweat beaded his upper lip. How long before Killingsworth ran out of patience?

“So you’re here out of loyalty, Hector?”

The question caught him off guard. A bitter laugh escaped him. “I’m here because I want to keep my job.” He shifted in his chair, angling his body toward her. “What about you?”

Color blossomed in her cheeks. She picked up her champagne and held the fluted glass between them. “I need to keep food on the table.”

He narrowed his eyes. Her body language told him there was more to it, but he didn’t want to spook her. He changed the subject to a humorous description of a mismatched couple dancing.

When the lively music ended, the trumpet player teased the first liquid notes of the old Beatles’ ballad, Yesterday, from his instrument. The rest of the musicians joined in the second refrain. More richly-dressed couples rose from their tables and headed for the dance floor.

Melisenda’s smile turned wistful. Was her resolve wavering? “I bet you dance like you sing—beautifully,” he said.

She moistened her lower lip with the tip of her tongue. “Dancing’s against the rules.”

He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Whose rules?”

She tucked a stray curl behind her ear. The rhinestones rimming her glasses flickered. “My rules, from the Wedding Singer Rule Book.”

Hector smiled at her little white lie. “There’s no such thing.”

“There is a rule book. I wrote it myself.” She was even pretty when she frowned.

He shook the thought out of his head. He had to get her onto the dance floor so they could slip outside where he’d deliver his warning. He couldn’t let Killingsworth kidnap another woman on his watch. Doc would have to understand.

As he slid his chair back, the rubber-tipped legs stuttered across the polished floor. Melisenda flinched.

¡Mierda! The last thing he needed was to frighten her. “Please, I haven’t danced with anyone in a long time.”

She raised her chin and her rhinestones sparked. “Forgive me if I don’t believe you.”

A muscle twitched in his jaw. They were running out of time. Intending to overwhelm her resistance with action, he grabbed her lace-gloved hand. An electric buzz bolted through his hand and up his arm. He remained in his chair. Her fingers tightened. The overwhelming sense that she yearned to trust him dragged out a piece of the truth he’d never intended to share.

“I haven’t danced since my fiancée died. Maybe I can, with you.” Heat rose in the agent’s face. What the hell had come over him? Why would he reveal something related to his real past, not Hector’s imaginary one?

Melisenda’s face paled. She wrenched her hand away.

“You couldn’t have known,” he said in what he hoped was a soothing tone. He glanced around. No one seemed to have overheard him. But what had just happened? He’d once met a touch telepath who could transmit thoughts and sensory details through skin-to-skin contact. This was different, as if he’d been overwhelmed by her emotional energy.

“I know what it’s like to lose someone you love,” she said softly. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

His throat tightened. It had been years since he’d last heard those words. He reminded himself he knew next to nothing about her. He’d be a fool to let her get under his skin just because she was Talented. His goal was to get her out of Mendoza’s compound to safety without blowing his cover. Doc employed expert squints to sort out the complexities of Talent.

Taking care not to let his fingertips brush her skin, he lifted a long curl off her shoulder and pretended he’d felt nothing. “Your hair is like burnished copper. So beautiful.”

The silky strands slid between his fingers. The way she trembled tugged at a place in his core he’d thought long dead. ¡No manches¡ This was not the time for his libido to resurrect itself. He had to focus on getting her out of here. Afterward, she’d be Doc’s problem.

Thank you for reading this excerpt from BLINDSIGHT. If you enjoyed it, remember the book will be available on Valentine's Day! ~Sarah Raplee

www.sarahraplee.com

Copyright 2017 Sarah Raplee All Rights Reserved

SOMETHING RICH AND STRANGE by Sarah Raplee

This post was first published at Romancing the Genres in 2015.

I love reading and writing stories set in worlds that are enough like our own to be recognizable, but have, to quote the Bard, undergone “a sea change into something rich and strange.” Think of fairytales, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis or Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic, the Pirates of the Caribbean films or television shows like Grimm and or Marvel’s Agents of Shield.

One of my stories from the anthology Love and Magick is set on the Oregon Coast during Victorian times. I did a ton of research to make the setting for Curse of the Neahkahnnie Treasure realistic. But the plot is about the search for a cursed pirate treasure guarded by a cursed ghost. Something rich and strange 9both literally and figuratively speaking!)

My paranormal romantic suspense novel, BLINDSIGHT, is the first in the FBI Psychic Agent Series. The series is set in our contemporary world, with a twist. People with psychic abilities exist, unknown to the general public.

The other of my stories in Love and Magick, Enchanted Protector, is set in a medieval-like world, but one where evil needle-toothed gnomes, dark witches and other Fae creatures complicate life for humans (and each other.) Enchantments happen and a pretty little girl can read thoughts. This world is even richer and stranger than my Victorian world.

Enchanted Protector excerpt

Ruby pushed into the wind with her head down. She had seen no one in the alley, but a moment later her feet tangled with some small creature that screeched in outrage. She windmilled her arms and then fell on her bum. The unforgiving stones jolted her spine to the top of her head. For a moment, her eyes would not focus.

After a few seconds, a wizened little face with a white beard and bushy white brows floated into view. A frown of apparent concern scrunched the small man’s countenance. “So sorry, miss,” he said. “My fault entirely. Let me help you up.”

Hands the size of a small child’s tugged on her arm with surprising strength. Ruby wobbled to her feet and blinked down at the small Fae man. He straightened her apron and brushed dirt off her skirt. Her head began to throb and her heart began to pound.

He finished and peered up at her. “That’s better, wot? Right as rain you are, I trust.”

Ruby drew her brows together. The word trust did not belong in the mouth of a gnome. Or was he an elf? Both were small in stature, with pointy ears and an odd way of speaking. Ruby had trouble telling the two Fae races apart. It was said that elves were merely mischievous, whereas gnomes would steal the shirt off a man’s back while he drowned.

The little man smiled, and it became obvious what was what and who was who. Whilst an elf’s teeth were small to match the size of his mouth, in shape and number they appeared human. This gnome had what looked like a hundred narrow, pointed teeth.

Ruby lost her voice. The enduring memory of Mam sewing up her mangled left hand when she was small caused her to sway in the face of all those needle-like teeth.

The gnome lifted his face skyward as if he were a dog scenting the air. His smoke-colored eyes widened and then he twirled in place, scanning the square. He backed away from Ruby. “We must be off, with snow coming, wot? Carry on, miss. Carry on.”

He scurried down the alley, mumbling to himself as he disappeared into the shadows. Lightning cracked overhead and snowflakes poured like eerie white rain from the storm-tossed clouds.

#

Prince Rolf of Helmsgaard, heir to the Dragon Horn Throne, lowered his muzzle to gnome height and followed Thumble-no-skin’s sour scent into the village. The strong odors of unwashed humans, wood smoke and cooking meat layered with the Fae creature’s scent trail. Not to mention the smell of sewage, which he luckily minded less than he had when he had been fully human. Since the devious little gnome had cast the enchantment that had transformed him into a wolf, Rolf had learned to use his heightened senses to his advantage.

The gnome’s scent trail was fresh, the sour odor of his evil magic strong. Rolf’s heart lifted. Thumble-no-skin could only have arrived recently or Rolf would have caught his scent sooner. Perhaps he could finally catch the Fae man without a bolt-hole nearby.

He trotted down the cobblestone street the villagers had deserted in favor of the market. The bustle of the crowd reached his ears. He caught the sweet feminine perfume of a maiden, as if the girl had passed this way only minutes before him. One of his frequent waves of melancholy threatened. Lying with women was one more thing denied him since the treacherous gnome and his gang of thieves had played him for a fool.

He picked up a trace of tangy gold attached to the maiden’s scent and awakened from his reverie. The hackles on the back of the prince’s furred neck lifted. Few of the villagers possessed so much a farthing. The girl’s small treasure would be as irresistible to the gnome as a shiny buckle to a crow.

HAPPINESS IS KNOWING HOW TO CELEBRATE!!!

 Hi, I'm Sarah Raplee,  author of Surprising Romances that cross genres into Suspense, Paranormal, Fantasy and Steampunk.

THE FILM THAT GOT ME THINKING...

Last night my husband and I watched the fun, thought-provoking film Hector and the Search for Happiness. At one point after Hector is kidnapped and nearly murdered, he learns to value one aspect of happiness. “Happiness is knowing how to celebrate!”

I realized that I have not properly celebrated my “author milestones.” I may have met a friend for coffee or lunch, or bought myself some expensive chocolate, but planning a book launch or throwing myself a party? These seemed too noisy, too expensive, too much like bragging.

This was an “Aha!” moment for me. I thought about a workshop presenter whose name eludes me at the moment explaining the “Five Percent Rule.” She said that out of the millions of people who talk about writing a book, only 5% will actually start one. And only 5% of the people who start a novel will actually finish it. And only 5% of those authors will write a second book. And…you get the idea!

When I thought of my work in the context of the Five Percent Rule, the importance of my Author Milestones—and of celebrating them—came into focus.

My work is important! Sharing my happiness at achieving an Author Milestone with family, friends and fans is important! 

Having fun and celebrating important milestones brings happiness to everybody’s life.

What are some of the important milestones I plan to celebrate with creativity and style?

• Book releases
• Short story releases
• Starting a new story
• Starting a new series
• Good editorial reviews
• Awards
• Collaborations
• Blog milestones (although since I blog with 19 other authors at this group blog, Romancing the Genres, I have been good about celebrating these milestones because my fellow Genre-istas insisted)
• Marketing plan
• Website makeovers

I’m going to find unique and fun ways to celebrate future milestones. With my new perspective, I’m ready to get my party on! ~ Sarah

As a reader, do you enjoy celebrating your favorite author’s milestones?

If you are a writer, what are some of your favorite ways to celebrate milestones?

PSYCHIC AGENTS
BOOK 1

I'd love to have you drop by my website at 

www.sarahraplee.com