Queen Bitch (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 2)
Page 23
The next door neighbor was bitching out John one morning because a work truck had blocked her driveway the day before. Bethany Anne was in bed and heard this lady shouting at John. Bethany Anne didn’t appreciate how her neighbor was disrespectful to her team lead, or the yelling either.
She threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt without a bra. One thing that the genetic changes provided was outstanding lift with no support necessary. Not having to wear a bra had Ecaterina jealous.
Before becoming a vampire, Bethany Anne wasn’t very big in the breast department. She had been able to choose between bra and no bra depending on the event. If she had been human now, the no-bra option wouldn’t have been on the table as a choice.
She walked down the driveway and out through the gate to come up behind John who was stoically taking this woman's shouted drivel.
“And I tell you another thing. I don’t know why you all have to be up all times of the night, it bugs my cat Mugsy dear to have to sleep with the lights coming over the wall. This was a pleasant little area before you moved in…”
John straighten up, eyes looking like they were caught in a cars headlights. Bethany Anne had come up behind him and grabbed him around the waist in a very affectionate manner.
“Why, Ms. Joshwood. What an unpleasant surprise to find you being so rude with my friend John here. What are you bitching about this morning?”
Oh god, John thought, he just wanted to leave in any direction possible. He never liked to be in the middle of a catfight. Then, he remembered. Shit, this woman is a vampire, what am I worried about? The fact she has her arm around me? That could be it.
Ms. Joshwood saw a chance to start in on Bethany Anne, “Oh, you tart! How dare you complain about my complaining! Before you moved in this was a decent street. We never had any trouble at all. Why can’t you just keep it down and why do you have so many people in your house?”
Bethany Anne just smiled at her, “Ms. Joshwood, you realize that my house has 9 bedrooms in it, right? Certainly you understand how I might need to try out every one of those bedrooms with John here before I decide which one I’ll use for guests? Doesn’t he just look like a poster of virility to you?”
John’s face turned red, then white, then he started looking like he might feint.
Ms. Joshwood, on the other hand, just kept sputtering away. Bethany Anne looked up to John. “Sweetie, would be so good as to get Pete started on his morning calisthenics? She popped John on the butt as he left. She suppressed a smile as his back went ramrod straight and hurried away as fast as decorum allowed. When she saw him go around the corner from the gate, she turned back to Ms. Joshwood who was still trying to make a coherent sentence.
Bethany Anne’s voice went silk over steel, “Ms. Joshwood, you are a pain in my ass. You will go talk with your husband and tell him you wish to move closer to your kids. Then you will put your house on the market to be sold for $500k more than what your real estate agent is telling you to list it at. I want this done in two weeks. Now get out of my sight, you fucking crone.”
With that, Bethany Anne turned around and walked back into her tiny estate, the black gates closing behind her. At least her fucking walls went around her house.
Two weeks later, she bought the house next to hers for $8.7 million.
Michael’s Notes (Queen Bitch - The Kurtherian Gambit 02):
Thank you, I cannot express my appreciation enough that not only did you pick up the second book, but you read it all the way to the end and NOW, your reading this as well!
I mentioned in Authors Notes at the back of Death Becomes Her that it took a while to write the first book. This book took a week. (I hope the quality is up to snuff**). I won’t get the third out in 9 days, I guarantee it!
However; I do hope to have the third one finished and ready by 12/15/2015. That will accomplish having three books available and I feel like I can afford to advertise at that stage.
Part of the reason (I think) I wrote this story so fast was I joined NaNoWriMo. Just doing that one step encouraged me to dig deep and I jumped ahead. The second is that Bethany Anne is just a fun character to write about. Her experiences are almost as surprising to me as to my readers.
That whole Stephen episode was NOT what I expected at all. In the end of the first book, I expected Bethany Anne to find an annoying son of Michael that deserved a horrible beating for being an Ass. I think I was literally writing the point where she hears his footsteps coming to the door when it jelled in my brain that Stephen was old… Really, really old. Now, he is my second favorite character.
I mentioned on my blog post (http://kurtherianbooks.com) that an authors success usually entails LOTS of pre-work before you release your book. However; I just put Death Becomes Her out in the wild with no notice and no advertising. I really hope that if you enjoy reading these stories, you will share with your Kindle friends the link and encourage them to read it as well.
As far as I can tell, the income from those reading the book through Kindle Unlimited is 5x more than those that purchase the book. Not that either is very large right now, but I do find it fascinating. Further, it encourages authors to write to get plenty of pages out there for our readers to enjoy. It seems like a very good ‘win-win’ scenario to me.
Feel free to jump on the Facebook page to ask me any questions about being an Author on Amazon. I’m happy to share what experiences I can.
I’ve mentioned before, my writing is more escapist. I love a good action story, but more than that I want to engage with the characters. I want to feel what they are going through if possible. I want situations that make me get excited, worried, laugh and say ‘take that, sucka!’ out loud. The challenges faced by the protagonists don’t have to be life threatening, it could be a challenge to ask that special someone out for a date that keeps the story flowing. I’m not really into books that keep you constantly afraid for the characters. If I care about a character, I’ll turn the page, and buy the next book, just to see them reach a personal milestone that is challenging to that character. However; having said all of that action is what drives the story forward.
In this story, Bethany Anne shows her fun side a little more. The cussing can be a bit extreme, but she uses it (and John, Eric, Darryl and Scott) in a fun way.
There really is a Joe’s Famous Hot Dogs & Burgers (in Florida City - https://www.facebook.com/JoesFamousHotDogsBurgersMore). There really is (or was) a house for sale in Key Biscayne for $8.9 million with 9 rooms. I imagine someone will buy it, but in my books Bethany Anne already has! Joes Pizza in New York City is already famous, they don’t need a shout out from me :-)
I honestly had NO plans for Bethany Anne to setup a base in Miami. It will be fun to see what she does with it. Now, she has two houses, I can only imagine that John wants to move next door after the close call he had with Ms. Joshwood and Bethany Anne.
There are presently 13 titles sketched out and I expect more after that. Queen Bitch is the second in the series. The next title is tentatively ‘Love Lost’ where the enemy decides to attack Bethany Anne indirectly. They find out it is a really good way to piss off a very powerful enemy. Further, Bethany Anne needs to start building her military, scientific and business infrastructure as she aims for the stars.
To accomplish these goals, she needs good people.
Please, if you enjoyed this book give it a good rating on Amazon? Your kind words and encouragement help any author. I will continue to the next story whether you provide an OUTSTANDING review or not. However; it might get done a wee bit faster with the encouragement (smile).
As of today (11/11/2015), 9 days since I released the first book I have two 5-Star ratings on Death Becomes Her. I’ve turned around the second book in 9 days, Imagine what I could do with fifty 5-Star ratings!
Ok, that’s not true. I can’t write and edit that fast :-(
You can find book links on my Amazon Author Page here:
http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Anderle/e/B017J2WANQ/
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Want to comment on the best (scene, comment, event, shoes or gun for Bethany Anne, weapon Nathan would prefer…you name it) join me on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TheKurtherianGambitBooks/
Want to know when the next book or major update is ready? Join the email list -
http://kurtherianbooks.com/email-list/
Software used to write this book is Scrivener (Windows and Mac):
https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php
Book Cover Images purchased at PhotoDune.net: http://photodune.net
Image software to make the cover (Mac): http://www.pixelmator.com/mac/ (1.6 ratio @ 300dpi)
Thank you,
Michael Anderle, 2015
*All credit for me having ANY shoe knowledge goes to my wife, who still works to provide me with even a finger’s amount of fashion sense. Why she asks me to comment on her outfits in the morning still confuses me to this day.
**I hate to admit, but the quality of the first release was NOT up to snuff. Thanks to a reviewer for calling it out. I was way too tired the night I released this the first time and I’m not sure if I uploaded a previously unchecked copy, or I just was so horrible with my pre-release check. That won’t be something I do again. Either way, I hope this latest version is better. Thank you everyone for working your way through the story before. (Mike - 11/28/2015).