In an effort to embrace writing here regularly I wanted to share a part of my current work in progress, but first… its Nanowrimo ! This is the month thousands of people get together and try and write a 50k novel in 30 days. Yes, its as hard as it sounds. If you haven’t tried it I seriously recommend it. You will be part of a great community and can share in the experience of focused writing for a month. I wish all the would be authors out there the best of luck in getting to 50k before the 30th!

Now for that excerpt .This is a little different from what I usually write but I wanted to go in a different direction, let me know what you think in the comments below!

Here it goes:

I remembered my grandfather, my sister, and various aunts and cousins, in their coffins and gone forever in the tombyards where the butterflies settled like flowers on the graves and where the flowers blew away like butterflies over the stones.-Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing.

 

ONE

What’s more exciting than chasing a rabid werewolf? Chasing that rabid werewolf in downtown Manhattan. The Village as a neighborhood is a warren of intersecting streets and dead ends. We had been at this for thirty minutes and I was getting aggravated.

“This is what the English did—who lays out a city like this?” I said as we ran down Sixth Avenue. “A grid, Monty would it have killed them to use a grid?”

“The Dutch were here first,” he said. “The English didn’t arrive until 1664. That’s how you get the name New York.”

We chased it down Minetta Lane off Sixth Avenue. The wet dog smell punched me in the face as soon as I turned the corner.

“There’s something wrong with that smell,” I said. “God, he reeks!”

“I didn’t realize you were a werewolf scent expert,” Monty said as he caught up.

“I’m not, but this guy smells like he hasn’t bathed in a year,” I said. “Did you see his eyes?”

“I did,” Monty said. “He seems to be suffering from some kind of reaction.”

“Reaction?” I said. “He tore that poor woman in half. That’s not a reaction. That’s a full-blown infection.”

“It does seem he’s unstable,” Monty said as he looked up and down the street.

“Just a bit, yeah.”

We followed the scent to the end of Minetta and on to Macdougal Street when a large furry blur shot past us.

“Shoot it, Simon! Shoot!” Monty said.

“What do you think I’m doing?” I said as I fired several times.

“Shoot it harder!”

We jumped behind a parked SUV. The license plate read RUFFRDR. It was one of those huge things that wasn’t quite a tank, but could never pass for an ordinary car. I figured there was enough vehicle to protect us from the Were’s razor sharp claws. That theory evaporated as it sliced through the metal and plastic with ease, rendering our cover useless. The SUV fell apart like a block of Legos and I couldn’t help thinking that RUFFRDR was going to wake up in the morning and have a very bad day.

“Really, that’s what you’re going with, Monty? Shoot it harder?”

“Strong,” rasped the creature on the other side of what used to be a perfectly functioning mode of transportation. “I’m going to rip out your intestines and eat them while you watch.”

“Wow,” Monty said. “He’s pissed. What did you do to him?”

“Now would be a good time for magic,” I said. “You know a fireball or two? Or some Were melting spell?”

“Can’t—he’s wearing null proximity rune,” Monty said. “I don’t understand why the silver ammo isn’t affecting him. You did switch out for silver ammo, right?”

“Silver…ammo?” I said, “Of course I packed the silver—shit.”

I forgot to switch the ammo.

“You forgot, didn’t you?” Monty said exasperated. “We’re out here fighting a werewolf, Simon.”

“I know,” I said. “It’s a little hard to miss.”

“I’m going to die,” he said as his voice hiked up an octave. “Out here on the filthy street alongside you, wonderful.”

“No, I just misplaced it,” I said with feigned indignation. “Hey, I had to pack all of the bags while you did your meditation thing to charge the magic you’re currently not using.”

Monty narrowed his eyes and glared.

“Are you saying this is somehow my fault?”

“I’m just saying a little magic would make this go smoother, especially since I forgot to pack the silver ammo.”