I can feel the grain of things.

I don’t want to say that I talk to ghosts, but the evidence speaks to me much more eloquently. I am swifter to follow along to the place where the decisive thing lies; I am quicker to see connections. I can feel the connections. I see the dead in my dreams, but they don’t speak to me on the steel table, except in the ordinary way. I’m just very much better at the ordinary way… 

… which is a roundabout way of saying that Trevor’s folk, and mine, are witch-folk, and ever have been. So we were rather better prepared for the Great Change, because the world already spoke to us, or rather we listened to it. If you’re listening, you’re more likely to hear when something speaks.  

***

As I begin revisions on The Shape-shifter’s Tale, I will be posting character interview excerpts for the main cast of the novel. This week’s excerpt comes from the interview with Emma, a forensic pathologist who returns from excavating mass graves abroad to find witch hunts unfolding at home.

Weekend Writing Warriors offers eight-sentence excerpts from a variety of writers; see the other excerpts here.

Publication Update: The Vampire Variations challenge story, now titled In the Laboratory of the Night, will be released in late July or early August from Glass Knife Press. At that time I’ll post a roundup of all the Vampire Variations stories currently available.