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| Robin Layne, Author |
| Current work in progress: |
| Blood of the Willing A novel for young adults |
| "Do you have what it takes to be a killer?" the vampire challenged, her gray eyes narrowed against the setting sun. Pinned against the fence, ankle sprained and knees bleeding, she was obviously in worse pain than Mary Lodge. Realization flooded Mary's heart: Carletta was afraid. Terrified. This girl didn't want to die any more than she did. What was it like to kill to survive? Or to live in constant fear of a stake through the heart? Since this fanged little seductress came to town, she had bitten Mary's boyfriend Hugh, killed several people, and now tried to murder Mary herself. But Mary's hands loosened on the construction stake. "I don't want to kill you," she said. "Not anymore. I want to help you. If you promise not to bite me--I'll find some way for you to stop being a vampire. There's got to be a cure. Somehow . . ." Was it the right decision? Could she trust her intuition that a cure existed? Mary often wondered, but once she had made her promise, there was no turning back. A puzzling quest frought with dangers, compromise, and anguish awaited her and her friends . . . while Carletta, none too grateful for their efforts, lured the boy Mary loved ever deeper into her dark world . . . |
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| Sequel in the works: |
| I am planning a sequel called The Vampire's Daughter and possibly a third book, True Cross.The same teens who are in the first book will meet a few new villains. Both these books have a Christian mesage, although in Blood of the Willing the Christian emphasis is not apparent until late in the story. |
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| Dear Kitty, We�ve moved again. I hope he doesn�t find us this time. I think if he does it�ll be the last time. I�m so scared. Not just for me, but for Mom, too. We�ve got to work on a plan. Please . . . I�ll do anything. Yes. More blood. More power. But I think I need outside help, too, don�t you? Carletta �I�m realizing more and more how much I care about her,� Hugh said. �But somehow . . . I�m afraid.� �What are you afraid of?� Hugh gazed out the sliding glass door at the backyard fence. �Being buried alive . . ." |
| �And then there�s the more conventional take on it,� Hugh said. �Heaven and Hell. But I don�t believe in Hell.� Carletta's countenance darkened. �I do.� �How can you believe in something so awful and cruel?� �Because I�ve been there. And I�ll be there again.� �I�m not the one sneaking around in a black cape,� Carletta said to Darrell. �I�m not the one who scared her half to death in English class. If she flips out . . . well, everybody�s entitled to a little imaginative play. Only a really unstable person would let it go to her head. Mary . . . We need to get some help for you. I understand how you must feel. You want your boyfriend back so much it drives you mad. So when you saw I�d put my mark on him . . .� She shook her head. �It put you over the edge.� �Mary says she wants to help me.� Carletta glanced at the other girl like a grateful friend. �Help you? Whatever with?� �You know. My . . . disease.� �Oh, the eye thing.� �No, the whole thing.� Carletta licked the abrasion on her palm. With her other hand she wiped up blood from her knee, then licked that up, too. Mary grimaced. Susanna�s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. �Whole thing?� �Quit playin� dumb, Mom! She knows, all right?� She bared her fangs. �It�s easier not having to hide these . . .� she murmured. �How many people are going to die before you find this cure?� Darrell said. Mary shuddered. �What do you propose we do? Murder her?� �She�s a murderer. Murderers get executed. And since the law isn�t going to recognize she�s a vampire . . .� �But if she can�t help it�" �Then her life is more important than who knows how many other lives?� �No. Of course not.� Now that they knew what Carletta was, would they share the guilt of every one of her murders from now on? Mary dreamed that a creature in a long, black robe was coming toward her in the night. As it drew closer, she saw that it was staggering. It carried a giant sickle in its bone hands. Its face was shadowed under a hood. What? Death, drunk? As the being drew even nearer, she saw that the bare bones were not real, just painted onto a pair of black gloves. �Heya,� said a voice. Carletta approached the costumed stranger. She was dressed like an angel in pink wings and halo. �Wanna go to Heaven?� she said, a hand on her hip. Her eyes gleamed and she held her chin up. But it was those incongruous fangs, the long, sharp, white canines, that drew Hugh's gaze. �Those are the most realistic fangs I�ve ever seen,� he said. Where�d you get �em?� �E-Bay.� The Iceman: Why are you asking about a cure? Piano Girl 2000: It�s for somebody else. The Iceman: That�s very sweet of you, mortal. Most people just want us all dead. Were you planning to force this �cure� on him? Or expecting he�d want it of his own free will? Piano Girl 2000: It�s a she. And I think she�ll agree to it. The Iceman: lol (�Laugh out loud�) Piano Girl 2000: At least�I hope The Iceman: lmao (�Laughing my ass off�) |
| Piano Girl 2000: What�s so funny? The Iceman: The thought of her agreeing to it. Piano Girl 2000: Wouldn�t you want to be freed from your curse? The Iceman: Has it ever occurred to you that vampirism might be a blessing? Piano Girl 2000: How could it be a blessing? The Iceman: It puts one under the shelter of certain protective forces. Piano Girl 2000: What could being a vampire possibly protect you from? The Iceman: The greatest enemy of all. Piano Girl 2000: Who�s that? The Iceman: God. �It takes a great heart to care about somebody who doesn�t care about you,� Melanie said. |