“Ah, yes,” he responded quickly, grateful for the change of subject. “We’ve received no fewer than four inquiries for our services these last few days via our website.”
Taylor’s hand froze in place and he realized that he’d actually managed to surprise her. “We have a website?” she marveled.
He pulled his phone out and tried not to smirk too hard. “We do now. Only a small one, granted.” He tapped the Internet icon on his screen and punched in the agency’s URL, then flipped the phone and slid it across the table for her to examine.
She leaned forward within her column of shade. “Well…this, ah, looks like a beta-test for a fanfiction website circa 2005.”
Remy shrugged. “Admittedly, web design isn’t my strongest area of expertise. But I suppose it would be downright unfair if I were good at everything, anyway.”
The vampire pushed the device back toward him. “No one will take us seriously based on this unless they’ve already heard of us and are familiar with our work.” She paused. “Which is probably a good thing since I’m not interested in taking on mundane cases and other nonsense. We already have our work cut out for us managing the preternaturals in this town.”
The waiter returned with his coffee. He thanked the man and immediately took a sip to keep from grinning. “So,” he said into his cup, “I succeeded again. Awesome.”
“That’s not exactly what I meant.”
“Well…” He pressed on, not allowing her to dead-end this line of discussion. “I’m afraid I must take offense to that because I think we do need more cases. At least, I do. The more the merrier, as far as my beleaguered income situation is concerned. Even if it’s mundane adultery shit or something. I know a few things about adultery.”
Taylor sighed. “I don’t doubt it. But you’d potentially endanger the rest of our operations—the truly important stuff—by bringing uninitiated humans into the equation.”
“Not if I carefully disguise the rest of our operations from them,” he protested. “Besides, I’m a human and you’re a vampire. Imagine the beautiful symmetry of it. You deal with preternaturals by night, while I deal with mortals by day.”
She considered this for a moment. “I might allow that but only if the mundane cases are relegated to any extra time you have after you’ve dealt with the things I want you to do. And please don’t take that as an insult to your preeminence. View it as another learning opportunity. What we do with the agency is already quite vital. We need to ensure that our primary mission is safeguarded. Everything else can come second.”
Remy fiddled with his tie.
“Oh,” she went on, “and only if you can make that website at least look close to professional. You may want to hire someone else for the job.”
“I’ll work on it,” he retorted with a wave of his hand.
The waiter came out with his food. He thanked the man politely once again, accepted a coffee refill while he was at it, and dug in. Eating in silence while Taylor watched him was rather awkward— he wasn’t used to dinner dates that were entirely one-sided.
Once his mouth was clear, he spoke again. “There are a few business opportunities that I thought I’d investigate tomorrow,” he told her. “A couple were rather vague and might turn out to be nothing of interest…but one might require a mind-wipe.”
“Go on.”
He glanced around, although he knew their privacy was sacrosanct here. “It involves none other than our police commissioner. He’s a busy man lately, it seems, and has been getting all kinds of phone calls from the feds. Somehow, I don’t think we want a group of federal investigators roving around New York and stumbling onto preternatural activity.”
“I am inclined to agree,” said Taylor. “I killed several of Gabriel’s and Albert’s human minions. Normally, I would avoid that, but extreme circumstances call for extreme measures. But before I decide, I will await your report. We need more information.”
She seemed content to think in silence while he finished his supper. He asked the waiter to deliver his compliments to the chef on the quality of the spaghetti.
The man smiled. “I will relay the message. We are honored that our most respected guests think so highly of our offerings.”
Remy watched the man leave. “Perhaps, one day,” he quipped, “I too will be able to cook like that.”
They finally took their leave, walked together to the door, and parted with a nod once out on the sidewalk.
No sooner had he turned his back than the vampire’s soft voice called, “Remington.”
He turned quickly. “Yes?”
She smiled in a warm, sincere way that he’d only rarely seen but which suited her nicely, he thought. “Good work.”
His gaze grew distant, but he nodded. “Yes, it was good work, wasn’t it?”
A few cars sped past, breaking up the neon lights that pierced through the blackness of the city but not obscuring the way she shook her head at him. Although she was still smiling.
He waved and turned toward his car. “Talk to you tomorrow, Taylor.”
Author Notes - Isobella Crowley
September 15, 2019
Confessions
First confessions. Then thank yous - because then the thank yous will make more sense!
Izzie here. I have something to tell you.
If you’re in the loop with MA’s (Michael Anderle’s) publishing company, this may be old news to you. But if you picked up this book from Amazon you might not have been told.
Essentially people know me as Ell Leigh Clarke, rather than Izzie.
The reason why we used the Isobella Crowley pen name on this book is because the books that I’ve already published as Ell are in the science-fiction genre. However, as you probably already realize, the book that you have just read is best described as Urban Fantasy.
(Mike Edit: Technically more Paranormal Fantasy with Urban Fantasy undertones, ‘cause vampires… But they have dwarves and stuff too, so yeah, Urban Paranormal Fantasy! ;-) )
I don’t know how much you know about search engines and Amazon algorithms, but publishing both genres under the same name makes it difficult for people to find the kinds of books that they want. People looking for science-fiction and the usual space opera shenanigans would be confused to find a random Urban Fantasy detective series on the author page of Ell Leigh Clarke. Similarly, folks looking for “comedic vampires solving crime” would be confused if they ended up only able to find series about space operas.
As such, MA and I decided to use my Urban Fantasy alter ego Isobella Crowley on the front cover, with the full intention of sharing this insight with you the first opportunity we got. If you’re on our email lists you will have received messages to that effect already, and now we’re bringing you behind-the-scenes after the show and laying it all out for you here.
Thank yous
As always on these collaborations, I’d like to thank MA for making this series happen. It was a ton of fun coming up with the concepts for Moonlight Detective Agency. I especially liked hearing that all the hard work has paid off when one of the team leaders in the JIT team let me know that it was being well received by our beta readers. It’s always a risk trying something new, and appreciate the opportunity that our team, and MA, have provided in testing the waters with this concept. The detective genre needs a lot more planning and work to make sure the clues are laid into the plot, and it’s something I really enjoy toying with. So, thank you!
Lots of people go into making a series like this happen.
I’d like to say a massive thank you to the team of suppliers who made this book possible: Brittany, Chiara, Nathan, Philip, Moonchild, and MA’s editing team.
Thank you, guys! Your hard work, care and attention mean the world to me :)
JITers
Massive, and uber thanks also go out to our beta readers, led by Brittany, and MA’s JIT team led by their high commander, Zen Steve. Thank you for all your hard work in making sure the words are published
double-proofed, read and re-read. Thank you so much for all the care you put into the process.
Reviewers
Mega thanks also goes out to our Amazon reviewers. It’s because of you that we get to do this full time. Without your five-star reviews and thoughtful words on Amazon we simply wouldn’t have enough folks reading these space shenanigans to be able to write full time.
You are the reason these stories exist and you have no idea how frikkin’ grateful I am to you.
Truly, thank you… And I’m writing this based on the reviews we’ve had for all our other series – and praying that you come over to this series and leave us some 5* reviews for this one too!
Readers and FB page supporters
I’d like to also thank *YOU* for reading this book. Your enthusiasm for the worlds and characters we come up with is heart-warming. Thank you for being here, for the giggles and interaction, for reading, and reviewing.
You rock, and without you, there really would be no reason to write these stories.
Confessions of a Storyteller
For those of you who don’t know me already, allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Ell Leigh Clarke, more often known as Ellie.
My main collaborator on this project, MA, and I have written a number of books together and have been building up history of hilarious shenanigans and give each other shit.
(Mike Edit: I think this is something Ellie started, I responded, and now her PR is so much better that I’ve become the nefarious instigator of all things harassment… Like the whole sniper and aggressive-aggressive, not passive-aggressive.)
This is become a signature offering, kind of like an added bonus that you get, after reading our stories. I’ve even had messages from our readers telling me that they are torn between whether they read the story or the author notes at the back of the book first. As such we decided that we should continue with this tradition and just let you know that this is Ellie behind-the-scenes, but Izzie on the cover.
If you’re interested I’ll share with you a little bit about how I came to write urban fantasy.
8 years old, and casting spells.
This couldn’t be normal.
A moment of clarity settled over me as I sat crossed-legged on my bedroom floor. Frankincense incense wafted through the shoe-box-sized room. In front of me was a sigil I’d found in an occult book. Next to me were the tarot cards I’d trekked through town looking for the previous weekend. Only the candle and a little desk lamp lit the room.
There was a strange eerie-ness that filled the room. Yet somehow I found it strangely familiar. Comforting, even.
It was late.
Everyone was either in bed, or crashed out in front of the telly downstairs.
No one needed to know what I was doing.
I’d jammed some folded-up paper under the door to stop anyone coming in.
Not that they would. But just in case.
(Mike Edit: Ok, you are EIGHT FREAKING YEARS OLD and you know how to deal with this stuff? I’m not saying you were a con artist in the making…but you totally were. I’ve no idea how you ended up a physicist…or an author (although the skills of a con artist are completely acceptable in writing. I like to say I’m a professional liar—I get paid to lie. This is where Ellie is allowed a LOT of response opportunity. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)
<
I glanced nervously at the candle. One stray spark on this carpet would send the whole room up in flames. I’d made extra sure it was stable. It would have to do…
I had a job to do. This spell wasn’t going to work itself, but already the sigil was “activated.” Just looking at it in this half-light, I could feel it doing its work, calling out into hidden dimensions, gathering power.
Looking back I couldn’t tell you what the spell was even for. I can guess what type of magic it was, from the sigil…but what bothers me to this day is how an 8-year-old can even begin to get into this kind of thing as a hobby.
(Mike edit: no shit.)
Both my parents were very down-to-earth.
I doubt either of them really believed in a god…but nor did they show any signs of believing in anything else. Other than hard work and education. Those were their “gods.” (They were a doctor and a teacher).
Yet somehow, one of their kids had managed to stray from the mundane.
It wasn’t until a few decades later that I found out that my grandfather, who had died years before I was even born, was a Rosicrucian. (Mike edit: Ok, something for me to go look up.)
<
Knowing that, I started to realize there was probably something in my bloodline. Something that understood that there was more to us than the meat suits we operate through.
Something more than the tangible world.
And it was bound to come out at some point—in creative musings for stories.
After all, every time I watched something like Vampire Diaries (Team DAMON!), or Supernatural (Dean, swoon!) there were certain things that just made sense…
So I started planning a series of stories that included British magic. The actual story structure used more of a detective or thriller structure, but magic naturally seeped in.
However, since it wasn’t sci-fi, and since I used collaborators, working to my specifications, to do some of the work, it didn’t seem like a good idea to publish as Ell Leigh Clarke. (As I’ve already mentioned, it would also confuse Amazon, because it was Urban Fantasy, rather than science fiction).
Thus was born Isobella Crowley: my magical, alter ego ;)
If you’re interested in magic and mystery, and what life in Bicester, Oxfordshire was like, before I upped sticks and started wandering the globe, then this might be a series you’d be interested in reading.
Go ahead and check it out…
There are currently five books in this series. If we get enough interest from it, we may continue it…now you know that Izzie and I are closely… “related” ;)
Check it out, and if you enjoy the read, hop on the reader’s email list to hear about more magical books as we publish them.
http://isobellacrowley.com/
Moonlighting
MA and I decided that we wanted to do something with the supernatural. Something with a badass female vampire and a reformed frat boy. Actually, and you’ve probably noticed this already, Remy has been heavily influenced by the cartoon character, Archer. I’m a huge fan. Even though Archer is a complete dick, he still manages to endear the audience to him. I was fascinated to figure out how, and how we might reconstruct this.
MA wanted Taylor to be a terrifying, “strong female” type because…well, I can only assume he’s going through something. 12
(Mike edit: Too many nice vampires. I wanted something a bit darker, where she wasn’t afraid of a little blood lost. Or truly she is a dark creature with the clothes of someone cultured.)
However, two characters does not series make.
As you probably know by now MA and I have hilarious conversations every time we chinwag, and the tangents and sidebars get more pronounced when we’re in creative mode.
Think of it as a writers’ room with 20 different personalities each trying to one-up each other and come up with the funniest concepts possible. That’s kind of the vibe that happens when we do these concept calls with just the two of us. Yep, we both have multiple personalities that come to the fore in this mode. It’s scary…and oddly hilarious.
(I hope that our level of output somehow matches what goes on in a writers’ room, but I wouldn’t like to make that presumption).
You can sample what our calls look like here: https://youtu.be/BGTeDnvRMrk
You can also see a bunch of snippets on Facebook: www.ellleighclarke.com
…and if you want to see the more regular updates, we pub
lish most of our “chinwags” on Patreon: www.Patreon.com/ellleighclarke.
Anyhoo, it was during one of these calls, right at the beginning, that MA referenced another TV show. The show that was on air before I was even born. Okay I might be exaggerating a little bit, cos I don’t know exactly when it was. However it’s fairly old, and because it’s also American, I hadn’t seen it. (I grew up in England, and the first American shows I remember watching were Friends and Frasier).
You might have heard of it though. Moonlighting? Anyway, he liked it as a concept having never seen it himself and only heard other people (women!) talk about it. He explained that it was popular because it has Bruce Willis in it. Suddenly I was much more interested in checking out. It also has Cybil Sheppard in it too. I vaguely remember watching her as a kid in the show named Cybil and she was awesome in that. So off I went to watch a few episodes and we decided to reconvene a few weeks later.
Luckily I was able to find the show almost in its entirety on You Tube. This is the link that I slipped to MA because I literally(!) could not stop laughing: https://youtu.be/eYqwLgrYFas?t=1661
You may want to check it out but if you’re not at your computer the clip shows Bruce Willis’s character completely hung over and hanging off the back of Cybil’s office door by his jacket! She comes into the room oblivious, only to be scared out of her wits by his presence. He then proceeds to have all the answers to her “problems” and suggests that he will do her a favor and let her sleep with him!
I figured this was the kind of logic that our Remy might use in the event that he wasn’t scared to death of Taylor taking him apart.
Anyway, check out the clip if you fancy it. It’s well worth the effort-to-giggle ratio!
And on that note, I should hand over to my collaborator. We have a word count limit on how much we can write at the back of the book and I want him to have the opportunity to say something entertaining.
Last Ditch Effort Page 27
