Chalice

When the call went out for submissions to The Vampire Oracle, I fell in love with each and every card. I would have written a proposal for all of them if I could have. As it was, I ended up submitting four proposals! Then, the waiting began. . . I was thrilled to be offered Chalice.

Chalice was a challenging proposal to write. It had to do with sloth...not a very romantic or flattering characteristic (LOL). I started by thinking of characters who exhibited sloth...Mycroft Holmes was one of the first people I thought of.

Now, long ago and very far away, I was a member of the Double-barreled Tiger Cubs, a Sherlock Holmes society at the UofI in Urbana-Champaign. Mycroft, Sherlock's older brother, was smarter than Sherlock but lacked the follow-through to solve crimes because he didn't want to go out and do the leg work to get the job done. An armchair detective. Thus, my armchair detective Sapphire McKenzie was born.

Then, I began looking around for a slothful hero. Someone who had tons of great qualities who didn't do anything with them. Drake Chastain fit that profile to a T. He's a retired basketball star playboy with nothing to do in his life but smile pretty for the camera and spend the money that rolls in.

The Vampire Oracle: Chalice ~ here's the blurb:

Reclusive vampire Sapphire McKenzie lives in her penthouse apartment with fortress-like security run by her AI computer, Buffi. She’s been hailed as the greatest armchair detective since Mycroft Holmes and has solved every case she’s ever been asked to investigate – and even some she hasn’t. Her ex-lover, Drake Chastain, is a retired basketball star living off his fame and fortune until women he’s dated begin disappearing, then reappearing…dead.

With Drake framed for murder, Sapphire has to leave behind the safety of her home to save the man she loves…or die trying. Will this be the one case she can't solve?

Ericka Scott
www.erickascott.com
http://erickascott.blogspot.com