Excerpt from Mind Over All: Joshua plays the Organ

I'm doing the first edit on Mind Over All.  It's slow going because of work, but overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the story.  In this one, the planets Kanaan and Barin are going to collide, and Deryl has to find a way to stop that from happening. Meanwhile on Earth, Joshua's mother is dying from the same disease that killed her father.  Joshua is home for a few days because she's in the hospital and they aren't sure she has much time left.  As usual, he's turned to music for stress relief.  In this scene, he's playing the big organ at church, working on a composition that might be his mother's requiem, when Deryl shows up out of the blue.

Joshua slammed his fingers on the keys of the upper and lower manuals of the grand church organ, and the chord blasted through the pipes—heavy, minor, anguished.  He let it hang, and then played five notes on the choir—why why O God why?—slowly at first, building momentum, increasing in speed until the notes tripped on each other, spilling into new notes.  Those notes growing in number and intensity until a crowd of music cried in grief.  Then: a single note, high and clear, rises above the rest, pleading, asking for…

His hands froze.  His fingers didn’t know what to play next.

Joshua thumped his elbows on the keyboard, making it blare, and buried his face in his hands.

“That’s an interesting ending,” someone behind him said.

Joshua gave a start.  He’d thought he was alone.  He wiped his face with his hands, hoping the person would notice only his sweat and not the tears.  “It’s a work in progress.”

“I didn’t know you could play organ.  Is it more difficult than the piano?”  The person climbed the short steps and sat on the bench beside him.

Joshua glanced at him long enough to take in the dark hair, brown eyes, and short sleeve polo that was totally wrong for the freezing weather outside.  “Sorry.  I’m…tired.  Do I know you?”

The man laughed as if he’d played a great joke.  “Seriously? A new hairstyle and contacts, and you don’t recognize me?  Maybe I should go harass Malachai next.”

“Malachai?  Dr. Randall Malachai?”  Something clicked in Joshua’s overwrought brain, and he gave his visitor a closer examination.  Blue eyes for brown; long blond hair, add a slouch that came from years of resentment and lack of self confidence… Could it be?  Despite his prayers, he couldn’t believe it, and yet…  “Deryl?” he whispered.

Let's Push a Planet! A Scene from Mind Over All

I'm charging (or more realistically, walking) toward the ending of Mind Over All, the third book in the Mind Over trilogy.  Deryl and Tasmae team up to save their world, Kanaan, and the neighboring world, Barin, from crashing into each other.  For millennia, Tasmae's kind have done this by psychically pushing the other planet away, but that won't work this time for reasons you can read in the book.  Instead, Deryl needs to come up with an alternative.  He'll create a way to direct Tasmae's "push" to guide Barin into a stable orbit.

He didn't just think this up.  Tasmae sends out a physic push, which he interrupts, but not soon enough to keep it from damaging Barin if it hits the planet.  He teleports there and in the heat of crisis, comes up with a plan:

It’s not a gravity pulse, the scientific knowledge Deryl had absorbed on Earth told him.  Otherwise, the effect would have been instantaneous.  It’s a force, a targeted force.  Force can be absorbed, deflected, dispersed…

I’ll make this right, Deryl told Alugiac.  Get out of here.

Despite being on his knees and wheezing, Alugiac argued.  What?  What can you do?

The ground shook, nearly knocking Deryl off his feet.  With instincts acquired from his bond with Tasmae, he reached into Barin and drew the energy of the earthquake.  Rather than sending it elsewhere, however, he pulled it into himself.  His muscles shivered, a strangely pleasant sensation.  The ground below him stilled.  He stifled a laugh Alugiac wouldn’t understand.

Alugiac coughed and wheezed.

You can’t help me, Alugiac, and you can’t help them if you die here.  Trust me and get out of here.

When he had left, Deryl pulled off his shirt, wiped his eyes with it, and tied it around his face, covering his nose and mouth.  It didn’t help much, but enough that he could concentrate. 

Five minutes.

Dispersing was not an option; he didn’t even know how he’d do that.  How long had it taken Tasmae to absorb the energy she then sent on a collision course?  He already felt a little shaky just from what he’d pulled—was still pulling, he realized—from Barin.

Four minutes.

Deflect, it is.  And Barin, if you want to survive, you’re helping me.  Deryl called upon Tasmae’s memories and his own experience with Kanaan and opened his mind to Barin. 

Where Kannan had been furious tyranny, Barin was panicked anarchy.  Ironically, Deryl’s confidence rose.  How many years had he dealt with the anarchy of thoughts impressing upon his mind?  The unorganized sensations of a planet struggling not to be torn apart?  Walk in the park.

Deryl braced his feet, splayed his hand palm downward, and sucked the energy from Barin. 

When Deryl had first been learning to control his abilities, particularly to deal with the legion of impressions coming at him from others around him, Joshua had taught him to shield himself from the mental/emotional aspects.  Over the past year, he’d taught himself to filter those aspects out.  It was energy, all energy, pure and neutral, like food once through the digestive tract.  Now, he applied the same skills to Barin, stripping away the pain of the turmoil, taking the energy into himself, storing it, letting it build.  The tremors under his feet stilled.  The waves crashing against the rocks calmed.  The wind that drove the poisonous air against his makeshift mask quieted.

In response, Deryl’s breathing accelerated, his blood raced, his stomach churned.  Adrenalin coursed through him, making him shake.  He ignored it, pulling further on Barin, reaching into the ground, through the air, and to the ley lines that arched weakly overhead.  A detached part of his mind worked physics problems of angles and forces.

Sheilds?  Ha!  The key to his sanity lay in creating shields—barriers against unwanted thoughts and emotions, clumsily erected until Joshua and his neuro linguistic programming style of psychology had taken him at his word that he was truly psychic and helped him create stronger, more clever shields.  Then again, training on Kanaan, training under Salgoud in anticipation of a Barin attack:  manipulating energy to protect himself, then Tasmae, gradually expanding…

He could do this.  It was just a matter of size and energy.

Get Mind Over Mind and Mind Over Psyche on Amazon.

Love Scene from Mind Over Mind

This is my favorite love scene that I've written. It’s from Mind Over Mind, from DragonMoon books. It’s the first in a trilogy. Mind Over Psyche comes out in September, and I’m writing Mind Over All right now. Ironically, in this last book, Joshua is thinking back to this evening–it’s key to a lot of issues. http://www.amazon.com/Mind-Over-Karina-L-Fabian/dp/1897492367

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror the next evening, Joshua's grin was still on her mind. It was interfering with her ability to concentrate on her make-up, and her guests would soon be.

Could he have taken her comments as implying a personal interest? Did she want him to? He had a good body—OK, say it girl, a great body—nicely muscled without being overdone, his skin rich and dark and almost glowing in the sun. She shook herself as if to break a spell and, sighing, picked out a lipstick.

Worst part was, that wasn’t even the most attractive thing about him. If it had been, she‘d have been able to ignore it; she knew plenty of well-built guys. No, what set him apart was the way he looked at her, steady and intently, wholly focused on her.

It wasn’t just her, she told herself. He treated everyone with that kind of intensity.

Still, there was something…more…about the way he looked at her. And that smile…

Stop being silly, she chided herself. He was just flattered. After all, you’re attractive, and young enough for your opinion to matter. She stepped back and appraised herself in the mirror. Her silky black hair was swept up into a neat roll, with a few ends artistically escaping from the top. Into it, she had stuck a couple of black lacquered chopsticks decorated with green dragons. Her make-up, though moderate, was done with effect, with green eyeliner accenting the exotic shape and tilt of her eyes. The jade dragon earrings she’d found at a Renaissance festival adorned her ears. Her black dress had a high collar, and its folds of silk covered her collarbone and draped over her shoulders before plunging daringly to the small of her back, perfectly framing her tattoo. An Oriental dragon of green and gold twisted its way across her back, so that its head rested just over and between her shoulder blades and the tip of its tail curled at the base of her spine. It had taken her forever to find a dress that showed it off to its fullest, and she’d had to run next door to get Cindy to help her with body tape that held it in place, but as she twisted to watch the fabric fall softly around her dragon, she knew it was worth it.

The dress ended just above the knee. Her silk stockings—the kind with the seam down the back—and the leather heels with the “alligator skin” accents on the toes, finished the ensemble. But tonight was for the dragon.

It’d been a long time since she’d felt like this: daring, happy. Alive.

The doorbell rang, and she shoved all the cosmetics into a drawer and hastened out of the bathroom to answer it.

Despite her suggested “Newport casual,” Joshua was dressed to kill. Above subdued black pants that looked like some kind of soft suede and were cut a little baggier than his usual, he wore a dark, short-sleeved shirt with a reddish-bronze shimmer. Its priest-like collar wouldn’t take a tie; he wore a simple gold chain. He also had a small gold hoop earring in one ear. She could just smell his cologne, something spicy and musky that called her to lean closer.

She wanted to lean closer. Instead, she said, “Joshua, you’re early.”

Joshua leaned against the doorframe. He carried a black rectangular case in one hand, and held the other hand behind his back. “I left myself lots of time. Even so, I thought I might be late.”

“Oh? My directions weren’t clear?”

“Sure. Mostly. Your highways, on the other hand…”

Sachiko laughed. “Oh, no! How far did you go?”

“Not far. But I had to drive over the grass median to turn around, so I spent the next couple of miles watching my rear-view mirror, expecting a cop to flag me down. Speaking of cops, just how many Dunkin’ Donuts are there in Wakefield?”

Her hands flew to her lips, but she stopped herself before she could touch them and smudge her lipstick. “I didn’t even think! There’s that new one at Tower Hill and Patton, but you were supposed to turn at the next one, on Old Tower Hill. I think Rhode Island has more Dunkin’ Donuts per square mile than any other state in the union. I should have drawn a map. Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I stopped to check a map, and there’s a cool flower shop that just opened, so…” From behind his back, he pulled out a bouquet of oriental lilies, birds of paradise and red antriums.

“Joshua, they’re beautiful!” She took them from him, ignoring the thrill that shot through her when their fingers briefly touched. The suspicious part of her said, He gets lost and thinks about buying you flowers? He’s either that sweet or that interested. Despite herself, she knew which option she wanted.

“They reminded me of you.” He smiled shyly. “Graceful and exotic.”

She looked at him over the flowers. Their gazes held. That interested. For a moment, she was very sorry she’d invited anyone else. “Come on in. I’ll just put these in some water.” She backed up to let him in, then turned toward the kitchen, giving him a full view of her back. She hadn’t taken a step when she heard a loud THUNK! She glanced coyly over her shoulder. “Yes?”

Joshua’s keyboard lay leaning against one of his legs. He was staring, open-mouthed. He closed his mouth, opened it again, closed it, then finally burst out, “Tell me it’s real!”

She tried not to let her swell of satisfaction show. The dress had just paid for itself. “Every painfully inked inch. And?”

She still had her back to him. His eyes moved over her with a mixture of awe and desire that seemed more suited for the bedroom. Maybe he realized what his face was revealing, for he smiled—an embarrassed, tight-lipped smile—and finally said, “You are full of the most incredible surprises.”
She couldn’t help it. She laughed. “Go put your keyboard in the living room and have something cool to drink! Want a Coke?”

“Sure. Diet, if you have it. Do you want me to set it up?”

“If it’ll tuck out of the way somewhere.”

*

A couple of minutes later, Joshua was perched on a stool at the kitchen counter, a glass of soda in his hands. The flowers were in a crystal vase at the end of the counter, except for one bird of paradise, which Sachiko had cut and placed in her hair. He offered to help, but she refused—the kitchen was her domain. Besides, she decided she liked having the physical barrier of the counter between them until he’d calmed down some. She turned from the stove to catch his gaze flickering over her tattoo, and there was such fire in his eyes.

She liked that fire, she decided, and the thought unnerved her, and she turned back to the meal until she felt herself calm down as well.

After a few minutes of comfortable—if electric—silence, he asked, “So, why’d you do it?”

“The tattoo?” She gave the fish one last turn, then set the pan on a back burner to warm. She’d rehearsed and used a dozen different answers to that question over the years, but she found herself wanting to be a little more honest with him. She wiped her hands with a towel, and pulled the antipasto out of the refrigerator. “I was at a low point in my life. Really low. I’d just gotten out of a horrible relationship with Ra—my ex-boyfriend. I’d done some horrible things, things I never thought I’d do, and I wasn’t even sure why. It was like I didn’t know who I was anymore. I wasn’t sure I ever knew; I was just drifting, doing what others expected of me, being the good nurse, the good student, the good girlfriend. Anyways, I decided it was time to do what I wanted, find out who I was. Explore a little, you know what I mean? See what I thought of my wild side.”

She set the tray on the counter.

“I like it.” He snagged an olive and popped it into his mouth.

“Oh, yeah?” Suddenly, she leaned over the counter. “And just what’s your wild side?” she asked in a low, throaty voice.

She’d expected to embarrass him. She had a brief image of him choking on his olive. Instead, he chewed slowly, swallowed, then leaned over the counter so that his face was only inches from hers.

“I meant,” he replied in a similar purr that sent delicious shivers down her spine, “I like yours.”

“Oh.”

He leaned closer. She closed her eyes.

Alugiac: the redeemed villain in the Mind Over Trilogy

Last week, a group I'm in started discussing anti-heroes and complex heroes, and it got me thinking about my villain, Alugiac, from the Mind Over trilogy.  I thought I'd share his growth from villain to redeemed hero. 

In Mind Over Mind, Deryl, a psychic human, has been manipulated by an alien called Alugiac.  Alugiac would come to him in his dreams, teach him fighting skills (first with swords, then with his telepathy) and indoctrinate him.  At first, the lessons were a welcome escape from the grief of losing his mother, but eventually they started changing Deryl’s attitudes.  They manifested themselves in the waking world, too, until he psychically stops the heart of a bully who’d tormented him.  (Deryl does CPR and brings the boy back, but this is the last straw, and he’s institutionalized.)  Alugiac leaves him alone for awhile, but comes back to resume training, and Deryl realizes he wants to use him as a long-distance weapon in the fight against another world.  Deryl refuses and managed to fight him off.  This one is out by DragonMoon, BTW.  http://www.amazon.com/Mind-Over-Karina-L-Fabian/dp/1897492367

In the second book, Mind Over Psyche, Deryl teleports to an alien world called Kanaan, where he meets and falls in love with Tasmae, who is psychically linked to her planet.  She can manipulate the weather, even to redirecting earthquakes and quelling volcanoes.  She also has a rare talent: being able to harness the energy of her world and the life on it and use that to repel a planet that periodically comes too close to hers. (They call the planet Barin.) They are at war with Barin, and in the last war, she was nearly killed by one of her people who went insane and turned traitor:  Alugiac.  Alugiac has joined the Barin and is in fact their Great Prophet and the religious leader that united the nations of Barin.  Alugiac catchies Deryl and Tasmae in a psychic netherworld.  He gives Deryl a choice:  Obey him and have everything he wants (including Tasmae) or die and Tasmae with him.  Of course, they fight back, and in the end, Deryl breaks through Alugiac’s insanity. However, they leave Alugiac in the netherworld, struggling to come to terms with all he’s done.  This one comes out in September.

In the final book, Mind Over All (which I’m writing), Alugiac is back, only with a twist.  Deryl is working with him to try to stop the war between Kanaan (where Deryl and Tasmae live) and Barin, where Alugiac is the Great Prophet.  Here’s the fun thing:  Alugiac went insane because he realized that each time someone like Tasmae used her power to repel Barin, they basically cause worldwide disasters.  The Barin live underground because their world is barely habitable most of the year.  They depend on their technology and know that the world is thrown out of orbit every few centuries, but don’t know why.  Alugiac, who was Tasmae’s Godfather, knows why—and he knows that she is the most powerful of her kind.  She won’t just move Barin, with all the horrible repercussions.  She will destroy it, and probably Kanaan as well.  That’s why he was trying to kill her, and unable to do it “in person,” was training Deryl as a psychic assassin. The Barin also realize their planet is doomed, which is why they are planning a full exodus to Kanaan. Deryl, of course, is working toward a better solution, but in the meantime, the strain is pushing Alugiac back toward his insanity from before.  So he’ll be fighting himself as well as the people of Barin, trying to convince them to stand down and trust in God.

I’m just about to the really fun scenes, where Deryl goes to Barin to try to save that world.  He’s known there (thanks to Alugiac the Prophet) as God’s Wrath, which was supposed to be used against Kanaan.  Deryl’s best friend from Earth, Joshua, is going with him.  He’ll be known as God’s Mercy.  I’m still not sure how it will work out, but I do know that in the end, Alugiac will sacrifice himself to overcome his dark side, but not before he nearly kills Tasmae.

When I started writing the first book, I had no idea this was where it would lead.  Alugiac was supposed to stay the villain, but he's far more interesting as a redeemed one.

What do you think of redeemed villains?  Who's your favorite and why?