MY MONDAY - WITH LINDSAY KLUG

Today we welcome Lindsay Klug who is sharing her work-in-progress with us today on "My Monday."

Hi, there! I’m Lindsay Klug, author of The Life And Times of Delila and the upcoming, What I’ve Learned. I’ve been happily married for almost a decade, with two lovely children, a dog, and two cats. When I’m not writing, you can catch me chasing the kids or dreaming up my next tattoo. Pretty soon, I won’t have much skin left. 

A little about this excerpt:

This is the beginning of a sequel to Delila. She wouldn’t shut up, so I was forced to give her another book. It’s about halfway complete, currently sitting at thirty thousand words. Hope you like it!

EXCERPT

The impatient drumming of my fingertips on the cool wood tabletop echoed around the chamber of nervous men as they shifted uncomfortably under my glare. Flickering light from the candles set in odd intervals on the wall created a quite unnecessary theatrical effect, and one which was only serving to make my irritation that much worse.

“Gentlemen,” I said suddenly, making the entire room start in surprise, “surely your leader knows I have much better things to do with my time than sit here and stare at you, lovely as you all are.”

A man to my left stood and bowed deeply. “Of course, Delila. Please excuse me. I’ll seek him out immediately.” He left with a swoosh of his robe and the room fell silent once more. My cell phone rang in my pocket, making a man nearby leap from his seat. His chair tumbled backwards, the crash echoing off the cavernous ceiling.

I stared at him with aplomb. 

“Really, Lucius. It’s just a cell phone. Hello?”

“Hello, Delila,” answered Ana, my lovely daughter.

Well, she’s my adopted daughter, a half werewolf which I raised from infancy. As I am a vampire, it was quite the odd coupling. “Hello, my dearest. To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”

“Not a pleasure, I’m afraid. My pack has found a dead wolf on our land. Looks like a vampire attack.”

My anger flared. In the year since I killed the former Alpha wolf, and Ana’s father, and taken over as Elder to the vampires I had explicitly banned all war between our races. Ana had done the same as the reigning Alpha; the precious balance between our sides could be obliterated if news such as this escaped. “I see. I’m out of country right now, but as soon as I return we’ll sit down and talk.”

No sooner had I hung up than the vampire in the long robe came sweeping back in with a tall man in tow. His hair, spiked and standing on end, brushed the top of the archway as he entered, and dark green eyes shone out from his pale skin. I rose and extended my hand, which he took and kissed the knuckles while bowing deeply. “Delila,” he said reverently. “It is an honor to be in your presence.”

I rolled my eyes before he glanced up. “You must be Otto.”

“Yes, I am Otto. Shall we?” He indicated the chair I had just been occupying, so I settled back into it and watched him closely.

“For what purpose am I sitting in this dungeon, Otto?”

“I am afraid,” he said, shaking his head, “That someone has been creating vampires in the villages on our outskirts.”

This vampire was no more than two hundred years old. Why he was speaking as though he were from the dark ages was beyond my understanding, first off. And second, why had he called me in on a regional matter? 
“Pardon? You summoned me all the way from the United States on a regional concern?” He sputtered for a moment, sensing the mistake. “Do I not have enough responsibility on my shoulders, Otto? Isn’t this a matter you could have handled on your own?”

“My lady,” interjected Lucius, an old friend of mine. “This is not an average vampire. We believe him to be a half breed.”

I looked at Lucius from under my eyelashes. “What exactly do you mean by ‘half breed’?” The atmosphere changed as the vampires glanced between each other, nervous and hesitant. “Would anyone care to tell me what this half breed vampire is so I can kill it?” I slammed my hand on the table with the last phrase, bringing their attention back to me.

“We – We’re not sure,” Otto whispered.

Sighing, I rubbed my eyes. “You’re not sure. Have you seen it?” I received a chorus of shaking heads. “So all you have are newborn vampires rampaging through your villages.”

“They’re not rampaging. They’re making new vampires,” Lucius told the floor. Obviously, he didn’t want to look at me for some reason.

Perhaps it was the rage. My chair flipped backwards and the candles behind me snuffed out with the wind as I launched out of my seat. 

“What did you just say?” I asked in a controlled voice. My fists were balled onto the table. “How long has this been going on right under your nose?” No one answered. A muscle in my jaw clenched as I grabbed Otto by the throat and slammed him against the wall. His feet were dangling from the ground as he kicked and struggled. My nails dug into his flesh, drawing blood and a gasp of pain from him. 
“How long?”

“Three months,” he managed before I sent him flying across the room and into a rack of wine bottles, my fangs down and a thirst for blood surging through my veins.

Read more about Lindsay's books on her website or her blog 

Thank you for coming by today, Lindsay. We look forward to the release of your work-in-progress and wish you much luck for it's success.