Have a nice Easter, Passover, weekend. It doesn’t feel very much like a holiday in skilled nursing when you can’t have visitors. On the other hand I’ve progressed a lot since last week. I am doing well. I’m able to get into and out of most chairs now. They gave me a wheelchair so I’ve been out and about rolling in the halls. But mostly I’m here on the computer teaching my classes. Still not writing much other than fanfic to keep me writing (With all the pain and pain killers I don’t have the ability to world build)

Have a little more of The Homestead at the Beginning of the World from the Fix the World anthology. It’s a wee bit more than 6 lines.

A motorcycle, old but kitted out for biofuels, sailed up the road more gracefully than Sam expected. It was as if the rider had some six sense about where the road needed grading. Dr. James knew, of course, but whoever this was, he was easily a foot taller than she was. He assumed that it was a man but who knew. The Derjviks had experimented with making humans bigger, stronger,  less reliant on food and a whole host of other things. Linda and her scientist friends had said that in some areas of the world there wasn’t a single purely human DNA strand to be found.

The man parked his bike and took off his helmet. Pale, nearly white hair framed his strong jaw. His skin was pale too but tinged with green. Someone in his family – maybe even him – had been spliced with chlorophyll, an aborted experiment in making them into autotrophs. Maybe the Derjvik had wanted to perfect the genetic engineering for their own people. There was a certain advantage in being able to manufacture food from light.

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One Day I won’t be running late but that day is not today.

Here’s a bit of a longer snippet of <i>These Haunted Hills</i>. Brendan is still talking with his ex about Josh as he shows her ghost hunting videos.

She started the second video but almost immediately paused it. She turned the phone toward him. “He is an absolute doll baby. How old is he? He can’t be old enough to have a PhD, I swear.”

“He does look  young but he has to be in his late twenties. He’s younger than us but he’s not a kid.”

“Bren, hon, what did he say when he saw this video?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because your target zone seems a bit off in this.”

“Oh, that was the wrong one. I thought I saw something following Josh and I’m not that good with a camera.”

“Please. I’ve known you for decades. You’re fine with a camera. You’re not trying to spot a ghost. You’re following his ass.”

“Heather!” The blush on his face could have reheated the dregs of his cappuccino.

“You are! It’s a mighty fine ass, too.”

Brendan chuckled. “It is. His job has him hiking out in the woods all the time. His backside is toned!”

“And you can’t keep your eyes off it. Did you even let him see this video?”

“Shut it! Yes, I did. He believed me that I was trying to track a shadow.”

I’m so very not with it any more. I have no time for anything. I’m just going to drop my snippet and run. Still with <i>These Haunted Hills</i>. Brendan is having coffee with his ex.

I’ve met his ghost hunting team and his steampunk group for that matter.”

Heather laughed. “How’d that go? The steampunk? Well the ghost hunting too.”

“The steampunk was fun. I was thinking of asking him to take me with him to their big party that’s happening soon.”

“You’ve found your people.”

“I have. He is such a Green Tablet fanboy.”

Heather laughed, nearly spraying the foam of her drink everywhere. “Oh, he’s so your people.” Brendan rolled his eyes. “Like you can’t believe.