Fangs and Claws for Halloween

Vampires are eloquent and sophisticated. They’ve been hanging around on this Earth for centuries. Nothing surprises them anymore for they have seen and heard it all. Except for Drake MacNeil, when one night a new fragrance fills his senses. Something he’s never smelled in his eternal life. Something he never knew existed. Something that brings him hope.

Werewolves are fierce and primal. Their claws have met dirt and flesh and are always ready to tear something apart. Footprints become pawprints when the moon is full, and the beast is unleashed. Arielle Boabhanshi, however, finds someone she wasn’t looking for in a crowded dance club. Try as she may, she can’t put him in the “food” category. There is something about him. Something she didn’t think she needed. Something that makes her world a different place.

Can love exist between monsters? Can it last an eternity?

My book of gothic romantic poetry, Night Eternal, explores these questions and this odd relationship. It is a love story, a tragedy, a battle. Poems are exchanged between Drake, whom I write, and Arielle, brought to life by author Joseph Mazzenga. The poems are from their hearts…whether they beat or not.

For example, here’s one from Drake on becoming a vampire:

 

Birth of a Monster

Looking for trouble,

down a dark street.

Trying to hide

from the day to day.

Wishing for more,

always getting less.

When he offers me

a smoke,

this shadowy figure,

I shrug.

Why not?

Haven’t done that before.

Time for a change.

Inhaling, I cough,

sputter, choke,

but not on the smoke.

His hands are around my neck,

strong, icy cold.

The edges of my vision blur.

The haze is not enough

to mask the pain.

Twin knife pricks to my neck,

a slow fire in my veins,

cooling as the blood

leaves me.

The metamorphosis

is

instant.

I’m no longer what I was.

I will never be again.

One chance encounter

and I’m gone.

And one from Arielle on becoming a werewolf:

A Hollow Moon

Footsteps.

Always footsteps.

Harbinger in hindsight.

Blind as total nightfall.

I am honored by the hunt.

My soul is a chasm of emptiness

Until that which is unholy stalks my very shadow.

Closer.

Unnatural winds nip at my skin,

Ancient instincts, old and useless, stir.

Telltale heartbeats stating the prey.

It is I.

There is no seduction,

Only futile flight.

There is no fight save for the aggressor.

I tumble across time to the primeval.

I am the prey.

Dawn is no savior.

Only my fear is the beacon.

My screams are for the dead to hear.

One cut,

One slash,

One blood,

One curse....all for the prey,

All for me...

With the ashes of daylight,

With the cloak of the moon,

Resurrected.

I am the cutter.

I am the slasher.

I will now spill the blood.

I am now the cursed...

You can see they are a tortured lot, but they have been brought together by the night eternal and only the night knows what will become of them.

Follow Drake and Arielle at Night Eternal for only $0.99. They are waiting for you…and so is the night! Tiptoe through the shadows and have a peek. 

What two paranormal/supernatural characters would you like to see fall in love?

Toodles,

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

Salvation Eternal

What does it mean to be human?

Breathing oxygen. Walking upright on two legs. Sentience. Language. These are definite characteristics associated with human beings, but do they get at the heart of what it means to be human? Don’t they fall a little short on explaining the awesome power humans wield? Don’t they fail to reveal the layers to our humanity? Our potential?

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines human as “a bipedal primate mammal.” Rather cold and scientific, don’t you think?

Being human means so much more than giving birth to live young, being warm-blooded, and having hair covering most of our bodies. Being human means possibilities, opportunities, and journeys. It means setting goals, striving to reach them, and celebrating when we cross our personal finish lines. It means having not only an intellectual response to literature, art, and music but an emotional one as well. It means creating literature, art, and music. Humans express themselves, build connections with other humans, make mistakes, learn from those mistakes, then make more mistakes.  

We are experiments in progress. Variables change. Adjustments are made. Results are analyzed. Then we toss all that aside, live through the pain, fight for what we want and believe and deserve. We lead with our heads and our feet. We listen to our guts, our sixth senses. We let our hearts be in charge every now and again just to see what happens. We defy the odds.

Another day dawns after a cold, dark night, and we relish the feeling of the sun on our faces. We are part of everything around us. Being truly human means tapping into all that the Universe offers, drawing energy from nature, from our relationships, from deep within ourselves. Our bodies represent us, but our souls define us.

And our actions will be how we are remembered.

We are humans, and the road is not always an easy one. Our duration is unknown, but we take comfort in the fact that we are not alone. Though our voyages may not be the same, we share a lifeblood that binds us all. We find our place. We fit in while struggling to be unique. We accept the embrace and though we know eternity will never be ours, we enjoy our fleeting trips and hope we haven’t wasted the gift that is life.     

SALVATION ETERNAL is gothic poetry in two voices and the second book in The Eternal Series. Author Joseph Mazzenga supplies the voice of Lucia, the female demon, and I am the voice of Father Nathaniel, the male angel.

Excerpt:

Good Evening.

Darkness. Cold, unforgiving, and muting all in existence. Humanity’s sight was forever entrenched… until there was Light. 

Souls are tender things. Unseen by human eyes, but eternally precious. We battle for their preservation every second of every day. Intangible, yet fragile, our souls need protection from the Darkness that seeks to blacken our existence.

The Light searches for us, our salvation its mission. Warm and expanding, it wishes to fold us in a tight embrace. All sins are forgiven for those who repent.

But do we lose ourselves in the process?

Might there not be perfection somewhere between the Dark and the Light?

The Cast

The Demon

And when time finally stands at rest, I will be my only companion.

Framed. Reviled. Driven out. Yet it will end in a lonesome stead.

When humanity was called mankind, I hefted the moniker of devil for I was birthed with accused blood relation.

Misunderstood. Misguided. Mistaken. All under the guise of demon.

I am not of Him or with Him. I am untaught with isolation.

I am Lucia Demone Cavaliere.

I suffer evil. I repulse all that is good, nonetheless a starless night is not a white shore. I am never fully unspoken.

So be it.

Humanity calls on me, alone. They call me to do their bidding hitherto they are pawns in the offing of death.

Dimness instead of brilliance. Look for me not in what you call Heaven.

Look for the demon in your life that you call Hell…

The Angel

Saving souls is a daunting task.

There is no shortage of lost ones in need of redemption. Their numbers multiply by the second, but I am only a solitary guardian, doing what I must, what I have been charged with by Him.

I’ve heard The Call, chosen my fate, accepted my destiny, and the lost shall not stay lost. Not on my watch.

I am Father Nathaniel O’Ryan.

His Light flows through me and seeks the Darkness. Souls reach out to me, often without the permission of their hosts. I deny no one, for each soul started with Him. Each soul has the Divine Light. It may dim, but it is never extinguished. Not fully. I can always find it. Through me, He rekindles, reclaims, rejoices.

Some resist, but I am not easily discouraged, for He walks with me

We can all shine in His embrace.

I am here to make sure we all remember this. I am here to save you.

 

Summer’s Eve

I miss all that is bitter

The bite of winter is no more

Surrounded by the stench of roses

To the death for an autumn breeze

There is no home

Save for the dark alley

The path of the ill gotten

Mist that fills me

Desire that takes me

A devil in disguise?

Worse yet

I am right before them all

~Lucia

Solstice Song

More hours of precious sunlight

to shine into the souls I seek,

the souls which don’t accept

the light,

the warmth,

the embrace.

With the coming darkness,

blackened spirits

will summon me,

sing their songs of misery,

then reject my outstretched hands.

My offers will be many,

unlimited,

unconditional,

but acceptance equals defeat

in the eyes of the broken.

Healing is not for the impatient,

nor the weary.

A strong heart

must decide to be strong.

⩫ Nathaniel

You can read the rest of Lucia and Nathaniel's story by downloading SALVATION ETERNAL for only $0.99.

What do you think it means to be human? Would you rather be a supernatural creature? If so, what kind?

Toodles,
Chris
www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com 

Sharing the Love - Fang 'n Claw Style

I obviously love Love. I write about it on a daily basis. I get all tingly when my characters fall for each other, and it's always a surprise to me when they do. It's like I never expected it to work out for them and when it does, I'm all warm and happy.

But...I do have a dark side.

Welcome to Night Eternal. A story told through love letter poems between Drake, the vampire, and Arielle, the werewolf. Author Joseph Mazzenga and I run a website of poems between these two characters and the relationship between Drake and Arielle is not always tingly, warm, or happy.

In fact, sometimes it's downright bloody.

Love is still there though in a very gothic, poetic fashion. Here is a video for our website. Check it out.

 

 

Enjoy a sample of Drake's poetry below:

 

A New Year

 

 

A new year is upon us.

I have never been one

to make resolutions

for eternity renders them

meaningless.

I have more than a single year

ahead of me,

more than ten years,

 

twenty,

a hundred…

I have forever

to accomplish whatever

my dead heart chooses.

This year is different.

My heart has chosen

something it has no right to choose,

something I would be selfish to desire,

something a vampire should not attempt.

Love.

I have never been capable of it,

never dreamed someone would be

more than sustenance to me,

more than a salve to my burning thirst.

But she…

She is more.

I have not tasted her blood,

but her lips,

her body,

her very presence

fill me,

satisfy me,

invigorate me.

This new year,

I am as alive

as I’ll ever be.

Be sure to stop in at Night Eternal every week to see what's happening with Drake and Arielle. Can love last for an eternity? Only forever will tell.


Toodles,

Chris
www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

Summer

Well, it’s after Memorial Day here in the United States, and that means Summer has unofficially begun. Cookouts have been had. Pools have been opened. Flowers have been planted, and for the next three months, shorts, flip-flops, and tank tops will be out in full blast. Soon, students in New England where I live will be done with school, and there will be much rejoicing across the land. Teachers will be among the noisiest rejoicers. I know this from personal experience. I have been teaching for thirteen years and though I enjoy it, there’s nothing like the carefree months of July and August.  
In those months, I live like a writer…or a hobo. It’s hard to tell.

I get up when my internal clock says so, not when my alarm clock deems it necessary.

I eat breakfast when I feel like it, often skip lunch, and dinner usually has the word “grilled” in it somewhere.

I wear the clothes mentioned above and don’t care if any of it matches.

I spend the mornings doing household chores/errands/working in the yard.

I spend the afternoons out on the patio, writing until my characters are satisfied.

I scribble out poems about the beauty of nature as they pop into my head.

I birdwatch.

I craft.

I stay up late to watch movies, which I consider research into storytelling.

I lather, rinse, repeat it all the next day.

Now, I’ll of course break from this grueling schedule to have a lunch date here and there, to beach it, to work on preparing for the new school year, but for the most part, this is my Summer life and with this format comes Summer Chris.

 
I love Summer Chris.

She is so easy-going, letting her chronic Type A-ness slip away. Summer Chris almost never gets a headache, sleeps like a corpse, and is wicked creative. She is an open channel to another level of innovation. She doesn’t sigh, grind her teeth, or worry about tomorrow. Summer Chris enjoys each moment, is open to anything, and doesn’t care what time it is.

I can’t wait to greet her with open arms in just a few short weeks.

Summer Chris has plans to self-publish a book, work on something a little different from her usual romance novels, and explore some new possibilities. Stay tuned to see how it all turns out.

In the meantime, you can enjoy some free poetry at NightEternal, a new website I co-host with author Joseph Mazzenga. It showcases poems/love letters between a vampire, Drake, and a werewolf, Arielle. This is a unique venture because I’m the voice of the male vampire, and Joe is the voice of the female werewolf. Some poems are biographical for the characters, some are reflections of their loneliness, and some are downright steamy.

Do join Drake and Arielle at Night Eternal and see how their relationship works…or doesn’t. Can love last an eternity? We shall see.

What are your Summer plans?

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com