Monday, April 18, 2011

Love and Death

I very much enjoy the dark and grim, and what could be more grim than death itself?
Death myths have been around forever. The Grim Reaper, The Angel of Death and who can forget Charon, the ferry man across the river Styx. All spooky and dark and given the grim duty of taking souls to their afterlife. Just the idea of these shrouded dark skeletal figures wielding their long scythe can give one pause. Maybe even cause a nightmare or two.
But what about Death himself? What's his deal? It can't be fun, his job. I mean, the poor guy doesn't seem to get anything out of the deal. And what if being Death is worse than you thought. What if it was a curse?
That's poor Simon's problem. He's been cursed. He's been cursed so long his memories have faded, he can't even remember what it's like to feel. When he meets Robert, all that changes, unfortunately, Robert doesn't have much time left. What's a Death to do when he falls in love with his next assignment?
His Soul To Take is the story of Death as he falls in love and remembers what its like to feel again. He's been at his job a long time. He knows the deal, but not even he is sure if he can do what he has to do this time around.

His Soul To Take by C.M. Torrens
M/M paranormal romance novella
Publisher Dreamspinner Press
Coming April 20th.

HisSoultoTakeLg.jpg


Excerpt:

DEATH walked down the street, eager to be away from
temptation. The thought of ever being in such a situation
had never entered his mind. Living people never saw him.
Not the sane sort.

Robert was different. He wasn’t mad, just more
observant than most. Special.

The weight of something familiar drifted in the wind. A
cold chill ran down his spine and the air grew heavy as the
presence grew closer. He stopped in front of a small cafe and
went inside to wait. No one paid him any attention as he
took a seat in the booth at the far end of the cafe.

A few minutes later another stepped into the cafe. Like
himself, the man was so average he was never noticed, but
Death saw him. Death knew his own.

The Reaper frowned and made his way through the cafe
to sit across the booth from him. Hard brown eyes bored into
him, and Death struggled to keep from fidgeting. His
interference had drawn Reaper to him and his stomach
twisted with worry.

Hmm, it’s been awhile since this has happened,”
Reaper said.

Death said nothing and stared down at the placemat in
front of him. Colorful monsters and kid friendly games
splashed the paper with vivid hues.

Why am I here?” Reaper asked.

Death shook his head and stared down at the placemat.
His finger traced the colorful monsters on the paper.

There was a long pause as Reaper stared off
thoughtfully into space. “You’ve interfered and pulled your
target from his destiny last night. His pain would have eased
the transition.”

It was unintentional.”

That doesn’t really matter though, does it?”

No,” Death said.

You’ve been at this for a long time. You know how
things work. So why am I here? Fix it or I will.”

What happens if I don’t?”

Reaper shot him a dark look. “Don’t play games here.
This is someone’s soul we’re talking about. Things live and
things die—”

Death took a deep breath. “No, I’m serious. I want to
know. What happens if I can’t fix things?”

Can’t or won’t?” Reaper got to his feet. “Do what’s best
for him and fix this. I know you’ve been here a long time,
longer than most, but this is a soul we’re discussing. A living
soul. Do what you have to do.”



--
-- C.M. Torrens

Author of HIS SOUL TO TAKE, coming April 20th from Dreamspinner Press.
Blog: Sweet Sounds of a Panicked Writer.
Twitter: @CMTorrens

6 comments:

Kim Knox said...

Great excerpt, Chris :)
I've always been a fan of Chaeron, but then I think I inhaled Greek and Roman myths when I was child.

Tarl said...

Good stuff! *hums Loving you is like loving the dead*
;D

Anonymous said...

lol, thanks guys. Glad you enjoyed the excerpt. :D

@kim yeah, I had a thing for Greek and Roman myths as a kid.

@Tarl hmm, I now have "death" songs running through my head. lol

Lady Gina Kincade said...

This looks sweet! Gonna have to add to my TBR list for sure! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Great! I hope you enjoy it. :D

Sasha Devlin said...

I'm so excited for this book! And I have to say your blog post game me a plot bunny that I will NOT be feeding.