June 18th, 2011 | by KateDouglas |
Hard to believe I finished writing the final Wolf Tales almost a year ago, but we’re close to the book’s release on June 28, and I’m really getting anxious. This series has been such a labor of love that it’s been difficult facing the end, but at the same time, I’m really thrilled with the way this final story ends.I hope readers will enjoy it as much as I loved the process of writing it.
Writing for a pantser like me is all about discovery–learning about my characters, finding out what makes them tick, and then figuring out what kind of trouble they’re going to get into. But you’ve all heard me talk about that sort of thing. Instead of repeating myself, I think I’m just going to post an excerpt I’ve never put up before, and let you make up your own minds.
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Anton dragged one of the big sprinklers closer to the forest and aimed the spray directly at the tall cedars lining the driveway near the house. So far, the fire was burning through the dry underbrush and debris along the forest floor, but if the flames got into the tops of the trees with this wind blowing, there’d be no stopping it.
Baylor and Jake were farther out in front, setting more sprinklers in the big meadow near the main entrance at the far end of the driveway. Stefan was still wetting down the roof. Slate tiles wouldn’t burn, but the water kept the inside cooler and discouraged embers from smoldering on the stones.
Adam and Oliver were inside, making certain everyone had cleared out of the main house and moved into the caverns. With so many people on the property, Anton didn’t want to risk missing someone in case the house caught fire.
Tinker and Luc were inside helping to carry more equipment from Logan’s clinic into the caverns, but they’d moved all the vehicles to the center of the back meadow—the largest expanse of closely mowed lawn on the property. Everything, including the chopper, was covered in fire-retardant tarps and there were sprinklers all around to keep the grass from burning.
It was the best they could do.
Embers landed in dry grass near Oliver and Mei’s cottage. Anton raced across the driveway and used his shovel to smother the flames.
“Stand back.” Stefan leaned over from the roof. “I’ll douse that area again. The wind’s already dried it out.”
Anton stepped out of the way while Stefan shot a steady stream of water over the dry grass. Steam hissed from the small patch that had caught fire.
A deep roar had Anton spinning where he stood. Baylor shouted something he couldn’t hear over the noise. In the glow of the fire, Anton saw Jake running toward the house with Baylor on his heels. Anton had first focused on the men, but his eyes were immediately drawn to the nightmare behind them.
The fire was crowning. Pushed higher and hotter by the growing winds, it burst through the treetops and shot straight into the night sky. Flames boiled out of the thick limbs and intense heat quickly raised the temperature of the sap inside nearby trees to explosive levels. A huge pine exploded, sending fiery pitch and burning branches into the sky. The one next to it blew, and the next.
The sound was a roaring freight train, bearing down on all of them. Unstoppable. Deadly. Racing faster than any man or wolf could hope to run.
Burning debris shot through the air, deadly fireworks lighting the night sky, falling to the ground all around Bay and Jake. Despite the water they’d poured on the dry grass, small fires sprung up everywhere, whipped immediately into frenzied whirlwinds. In front of the men, behind them, fed by the wind, swirling tornadoes, spreading more flames wherever they blew.
Anton shouted at Stefan. “Stef! Get down. Off the roof now! It’s too late. We need to get into the caves.”
Stefan threw the hose off the roof and raced for the ladder. Anton turned again and watched the two men running before a fire that chased them across the burning meadow in a horrible race they couldn’t possibly win.
Flames licked up the side of Mei and Oliver’s cottage. The heat was intense—the air filled with smoke and swirling, burning embers. There wasn’t enough air to breathe—all of it fueling the fire, burning their lungs, stinging eyes. Anton turned his gaze away from the burning cottage as Stefan ran across the driveway and skidded to a stop at his side.
Baylor was almost to the house when Jake cried out and stumbled forward. He fell, screaming, hit in the back by a burning branch, a limb blown from one of the exploding trees.
Baylor spun around and raced back across the burning grass to help him. Anton and Stef ran full-tilt across the burning meadow, sidestepping the dozens of small fires that grew even as they leapt over and around them—fires that grew and spread, all pushed by the wind toward the beautiful house that had stood in this perfect meadow for so many years.
Anton couldn’t think of his home. Focused only on the man screaming in pain, rolling in the grass, frantically trying to dislodge the burning pitch from his back.
Baylor reached Jake first and ripped the shirt off of him, cursing and beating the flames out with his hands. Burned flesh tore away with the fabric, but Jake’s screams had stopped. He lurched to his hands and knees and then, with Bay’s help he stood. He stumbled slightly, swaying for a moment from shock and pain. His eyes were glazed, his legs unsteady, but he still managed to move forward.
Anton and Stef reached the two of them as yet another huge pine burst into flames. More burning debris fell like fiery rain around them. Holding Jake’s arms, practically carrying him through the fire, they reached the main house.
Oliver and Adam flung open the door as Bay, Stef and Anton ran up the wide front stairs, holding Jake. Oliver and Mei’s cottage was fully engulfed, lighting the night like a torch. Flames licked up the walls of the main house, burning hot just outside the kitchen.
They had to pass through the kitchen to access the caverns.
“We were just coming to get you. We don’t have much time if we expect to make it to the caves.” Adam stepped aside so Anton and the others could get Jake through the door. “How is he?”
“Badly burned,” Anton said. “I think he’s going into shock.” When they reached the kitchen, Baylor took up Anton’s hold on Jake and Anton stepped aside.
Oliver held the door to the cellar open. Flames boiled in a seething storm just outside the kitchen window and smoke made it difficult to breathe. The generator-powered lights flickered and went out, but the shed was probably burning by now and light from the fire illuminated the room. Heat in the kitchen was already growing unbearable, though the roar of the fire seemed muted here inside the walls.
At least for now. Anton moved out of the way as Adam leaned over and grabbed Jake’s legs. Baylor carefully held Jake’s upper body, avoiding the burned and blackened skin on his back and shoulders. The two of them could get him into the cavern faster this way. Jake moaned, barely conscious. Oliver went on ahead, opening doors as Baylor and Adam carefully carried Jake down the stairs to safety.
Anton glanced at Stefan. Soot covered his face and there were tears in Stef’s eyes.
“Stef? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
A window somewhere in the house exploded. Smoke was getting thicker, filling the once bright kitchen, but the light now wasn’t from moonlight or the sun or the emergency lights—it was the angry red of fire boiling just outside the windows.
“It’s gone, Anton. Your home will be gone by morning.”
Anton shifted his eyes away from the pain in Stefan’s. His gaze fell on the refrigerator, on the colorful drawings made by so many of the children—drawings carefully taped to the smooth stainless steel finish.
At first, those wonderful childish drawings filled him with pain, at the thought they would soon be nothing more than ash. Then a calming sense of acceptance washed over him.
All his priorities clicked perfectly into place.
There was nothing they could do. The house was going to burn. The pictures would burn…he raised his head and smiled at Stefan. The children were safe. What else mattered?
He clapped a hand on Stefan’s shoulder. “It’s just a house, Stef. Wood and glass and steel. All replaceable. You, my friend, are not. Now get your skinny ass down those stairs before I have to carry you myself.”
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This excerpt takes place about half way through the book…but it will give you a hint of what’s coming. And an added note–if you are going to be in NY next week, I’ll be there for the Romance Writers of America conference, signing books at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square on Tuesday, June 28 from 5:30-7:30.
And, I’ll be in Portland, OR August 7 signing at Jan’s Paperbacks from noon to four. More details on that signing as we get closer to the date.
I’ve got ONE copy of Wolf Tales 12 to give to a lucky winner who will be chosen from those of you leaving a comment. I would love to know if you have a favorite Chanku character, and why you like them best. I’ll choose the winner on Tuesday. 