February 25, 2024
Marching on...
Will this month ever end? February always feels like it goes on forever. I’m tired of the cold and looking forward to the daffodils popping up in the yard. There were some in a yard near the library yesterday, so I’m hoping to see mine real soon.
Speaking of the library - this is the view from the library parking lot. Pretty amazing, huh?
I’ve been working on two stories - Remington and Rowan. Remington will be in Marked by the Wolf - an anthology later this year. You’ve met them both in Fate or Destiny, so yes - there will be more coming.
There was a post in a group for subscription authors that said it so perfectly - they gave us permission to use it. This is why I do subscriptions here - and on Ream.
“My paid subscriptions and membership exist for the benefit of my readers. In a publishing market that rewards the new over everything else, whether that be new books, discovering new readers, or new opportunities, I want to create a place that gives me the opportunity to put you first – my existing fans that make doing what I love possible.
In an industry where publishers, platforms, and advertising eats into most of the revenue authors make from their books, having a subscription allows me to build a sustainable business model and thus create more and better experiences for all of you, whether you are a paid subscriber or not.
By having a space where we can have a direct connection on the internet, I always vow to put my Readers First and shape the future of this membership together. Thank you for supporting me and thank you for being a part of our story as one of my readers.”
Did you know that February 20th was National Love Your Pet day? The boys are loved every day - but I made them homemade dog cookies. They’re a healthier alternative for them - and a lot less expensive than store-bought treats.
This is the recipe I used - I forget where I got it (sorry!) - and I substituted chia seeds for the flaxseed meal because I had chia and no flax. They absolutely love them - and my house smelled like peanut butter cookies.
Dog Cookies
3/4 c canned pumpkin
1/4 c peanut butter
1 1/3 c oat flour
2tbsp flaxseed meal
350F for 30 min - Mix dough, roll out and cut into shapes.
Oh, and there was a survey in the last newsletter - I’d REALLY appreciate it if more of you could go take it. It helps me learn more about who reads my books and how I should be marketing things. Please, PLEASE go take it? You can find it in this newsletter. Thank you.
And So It Begins - Chapter Six - College Park, MD 2021
Slowly, some groups of people were beginning to meet in person, but those at risk were still staying isolated. The pandemic had changed life for everyone, even though vampires and shifters seemed to be immune. The human assistants, the hunters and witches, had suffered some losses, but most had taken advantage of the spells and protections the magical community had created – as well as taking basic human precautions of masks, distancing, and sanitizing.
Jo couldn’t catch, or give anyone, the disease, but she still wore a mask in public places. Less questions, particularly in Maryland, Virginia, or DC if she was wearing it than if she did not.
She’d lived through the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, when hundreds of thousands of people had died in the United States, and around fifty million worldwide. The Yellow Fever epidemic is what took out her family, but that had been eclipsed by the Spanish Flu. She’d watched human friends lose their whole families to the disease – but it had not been close to the same as this new pandemic.
With Covid 19, the whole world shut down. Streets were empty and people learned how to use technology to stay connected. Even she had learned how to do video conferencing and all of their board meetings had been virtual, to lessen the chance of the human staff being exposed. It had brought out the best in so many people who stepped up to take care of each other – but it had also brought out the worst in some others.
They were currently dealing with a rise in hate crimes. Groups of shifters against witches, witches against vampires, vampires against hunters – you name it, there were conflicts. A rumor that the witches had created the virus had spread almost as fast as the virus itself. It was fake, of course, but with the rise in disinformation campaigns by mass media, no one knew who to trust.
Everyone turned to the Network to find out what was going on and to get them some answers – and the truth. Jo had done a video that the PR team had been sending out everywhere, telling them that the witches did not create the virus, but they were creating protections that could help people stay safe and healthy. It had helped – somewhat.
“The comments on the video are still a mixed bag,” Lisa told Jo. “I’m sending the responses we set up, but people are afraid and angry, so it’s not getting through to some of them.”
Lisa was still with Jo, although she was now married to a hunter named Ian Sommers with two kids – one in high school and one in college at Georgetown University.
“How’s Andrew doing with college going remote?” Jo asked. “And Amelia, with her senior year being screwed by this?”
“There’s some anger,” Lisa replied, “But they understand. Ian has been particularly careful if he comes in from a case – showering in the pool house and changing into the clothes kept in his locker, with the dirty ones put into the wash right there. It was a good idea for when they returned from messier cases, but it’s worked even better for us during the pandemic.”
“We’re all adjusting,” Jo said. “I want to keep you and your family safe. Hell, I want to keep all of the families at risk safe. But I won’t let this become an excuse to cause interspecies wars or ramp up the hate crimes like we’ve been seeing.”
“The hate’s always been there,” Lisa said. “This is just an excuse for them to act on it.”
“Well, that last excuse for a president gave them permission to be hateful and proud of it,” Jo grumbled. “I still can’t believe people voted for that narcissistic, hate-filled con man.”
“Come on, Jo. You’ve seen horrible presidents before,” Lisa replied.
“Yeah, I have, but I thought we’d grown as a country. Guess not,” Jo sighed and gave Lisa’s shoulder a pat. “Are we set up for the two o’clock meeting?”
“All set,” Lisa said. “Kate and Magnus will both be video conferencing, but Aisha is here, as are Sandra and Simon. Joe will be introducing Olivia as his replacement today, remoting in from Lisbon. Olivia Shen will conference in thirty minutes after the meeting starts. I’ll let you know when she’s ready to be connected, and add her to the call when you give the word.”
“You’re the best, Lisa. Thank you,” Jo replied and went to take a seat in the conference room. She wanted a moment to make sure she was ready as she went over her notes and the agenda for the meeting.
The room filled and the screen lit up. Everyone grabbed their choice of beverage and settled into their seats.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” Jo said with a smile. “It’s good to see all of your faces. Pandemic protocols remain in effect, so keep your people safe.” She looked down at her tablet, then up at the gathered group. “We all know the greatest threat to the national security of the United States is home-grown terrorism. Hate-spawned and, in some cases, government sanctioned, this kind of threat isn’t just to the US, but to all countries that strive for democracy.”
She could see the nods from those present and those on the screen. After a pause, Jo put down the tablet and folded her hands together. “I’m not going to read the prepared notes. I think we’re all friends and comfortable enough with each other to just lay it all out there. I’m worried. The sheer magnitude of what our politicians are getting away with is stunning. The level of crazy among those that are supposedly in charge? That’s terrifying.” She turned to Simon. “Tell them what William’s latest report said.”
“As you know,” Simon began, “William Harrington is the White House Chief of Staff. He’s also a shifter. The information he shares with us allows us to better manage the crises that cross mundane and supernatural barriers. Over the past few months, reports have been coming in of various mundane organizations that are threatening the very fabric of democracy.”
“That’s nothing new,” Kate said. “There have been threats to democracy since the founding of this country.”
“True,” Simon replied. “However, over the past three weeks we’ve learned that there are a handful of groups that have been working in a way that would almost seem to be in accord with each other.”
“Unusual,” Magnus said. “Due to the fact that most of these groups consider themselves the ultimate in patriotism and better than any other group. Even if they have similar goals, strategies, and foci.”
Simon gave Magnus a nod. “Exactly. It’s even more suspect when the groups are geographically distant and have no known connections with each other.”
“No connections?” Joe asked.
“Absolutely none that the current agencies, or our own people, could find,” Simon replied. “No common shopping locations, no socializing or family ties, no religious connections other than they all profess to be some flavor of evangelical Christian.”
Jo leaned back and tapped her pen against her lower lip. “You’re thinking there’s an umbrella organization that’s playing puppet master to all of these groups, correct?”
“That’s where the information seems to be heading,” Simon replied to Jo. “But what that organization is or who is in charge, we have yet to learn.” He took a sip of his coffee and shook his head. “William has said that the President and all of the intelligence groups or advisors he’s spoken with do not see the connections that he – and now we – have seen. They told him to let it go and move on. I told him to stop discussing it outside of the SIN conclave and let them think he did drop it, but to keep working on it as best he could within those restrictions.”
Jo blinked in surprise as Olivia Shen’s face popped up on the screen with the others. Her shiny black tresses were twisted up in a clip and her dark eyes shone with intelligence. “Hello, Olivia and welcome. We got caught up in a conversation and your introduction was missed. My apologies.”
“No worries, Director,” Olivia replied. “Joe tagged me in when he saw where the conversation was going and I listened in until the video connection went live.” She smiled at the camera, then spoke again. “I’ll be in Maryland by tomorrow evening. Everything here has been handled already. However, I may have something to contribute to the conversation. If it’s okay with you, Joe?”
“Of course, Olivia. This is your job now, I’m just handing over the keys, as it were,” Joe said with a chuckle.
“We’ve had similar incidents across the European Union countries. I’m in Valencia, Spain right now where a group of radicals burned down a school yesterday,” Olivia reported. “Joe told me of another, similar incident of arson outside of Lisbon. These groups are not connected in any way that we can find, but they are behaving seemingly in concert.”
Kate scrubbed her hands over her face and sighed. “I know you’re saying this is domestic, home-grown activity, but how much of it has been fed by the disinformation and chaos campaigns spun by Russia and China? We know they’re doing their best to sow chaos and discord in the US and this would be right up their alley.”
Simon looked thoughtful for a moment, then let out a huff of breath. “As much as this sounds like radical conspiracy talk, William and I have a theory. We believe there’s a powerful group of very wealthy – think billionaire level – people that have created an organization that has global reach.” He raised a hand as the sounds of incredulity started to rise. “Let me finish. SIN is itself one of these organizations. We’re insular in many ways, we’re all very wealthy, and we have global reach. To say that there are no other groups like ours is to be naïve.”
“Simon is quite correct,” Jo said and the others fell silent. “Power groups have existed since man first made communities. In the United States, there have been many over the centuries. One that still exists, with less anonymity these days, is the Skull and Bones Society. Things have moved well past the ‘old boy network clubs’ to organizations that are often disguised as political PACs, lobbying groups, or think tanks.” She took a sip of her tea, then set the cup gently back onto the saucer. “Dr. Theophilus Wilder once said that violence is the single most valuable commodity in the world and the only true source of power. The military-industrial complex understands fully that he who can inflict the most pain, wields the most power.”
“But what about the Constitution? And Congress?” Joe said.
Magnus spoke up then, his voice a low rumble. “I think what Jo is saying is that the federal government exists in an uneasy truce with those who wield the real power. Groups like SIN? Like us? We wield more power than the temporary figures in Congress or Parliament.” He pushed his hair back and stared into the camera. “Jo, how many administrations have come and gone since the founding of SIN?”
“Twenty-one Presidents since 1910,” Jo said.
“Twenty-one,” Magnus replied. “I do believe we can all agree that SIN is one of those groups that wield the real power.”
“And we cause pain and threaten those who don’t follow the laws and ethics agreed upon by this organization, so we are part of the military-industrial complex as much as the FBI or the CIA or any of the others,” Sandra said. “I see where you’re going with this, Simon. Whichever organization is the umbrella group pulling all of these strings, making these domestic terrorists dance to their tune – is very likely a group similar to our own.”
Simon nodded. “They may be made up of only humans, but I think we’d be naïve to assume as much. Some of these attacks could only have been done by supernaturals.”
Everyone took a moment to absorb the ramifications of this and the expression on everyone’s face was one of concern.
“I would like all of us to put some of our resources into finding out who or what is behind this rash of attacks,” Jo said. “That’s all for today. Thank you, everyone.”
One by one the screen images went to black, while Aisha and Sandra both left the room.
Simon stayed behind and closed the door when the others had left. “Jo, if I could have a moment?”
“Of course, Simon,” Jo said as she shut off her tablet and set it aside.
“I want to send Jace Mellin in as William’s new personal assistant. He has been invaluable as my aide for the past six months, but instead of waiting to put him on a new team, I think he’d be good as support for William. I’m getting worried about Will being in there alone, with how this theory may play out.”
“I think that’s a good idea. Have you broached the subject with Jace himself?” Jo asked.
Simon gave her a knowing smile. “I asked him if he’d be amenable to being put in a different position instead of being sent out on a team right away. He said as long as it’s not washing someone’s dirty socks, he’s willing.”
Jo laughed and shook her head. “He absolutely hates anything to do with laundry. Okay, if he’s willing, and if William is willing, then I’m fine with it. Just be sure they both know this is a long game.” Her smile faded and she leaned back for a moment, a weariness in her eyes. “This is a time where more countries are governed not by governments, but by people who grasp at power and hold it tight in their fists. It’s like older times when countries were ruled by men and women on thrones.”
“Russia has one of those right now, as does Turkey. I know the US narrowly avoided that and may yet still end up with that happening,” Simon said. “While most high-profile politicians and presidents are more like puppets and performers than rulers, there are some, like Putin, who truly do wield massive amounts of power and wealth. Presidents in the United States, or Prime Ministers in the UK, are more like stars that get a few years of fame in exchange for doing exactly what they are told to do."
"And while they come and go, we stay behind the curtain, doing everything we can to keep the general public from finding out about supernaturals, or using our various talents to keep democracy from disappearing into the history books,” Jo replied. “Get Jace over to William and tell them both if they need anything, or hear anything, I want to know right away. Thank you, Simon.”
Simon knew that was his dismissal and gave Jo a smile as he left the room. Once he was gone, Jo finished her tea and got to her feet. She had seen the possibilities, but until Simon filled in the gaps, she’d been able to hope the very real threat wasn’t quite as dire as she’d suspected.
Now she knew better.
Chapter Seven next week! Or you can buy it here for less and read ahead. (Or everywhere else here.)