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Patrick walked into the store.  He stepped over the aluminum shelf.  “What’s up?”  He asked.  Erik hadn’t shaved in weeks.  His hair was wrapped in natural oils and other bodily fluids.  It stood at attention in several places upon his head.  “What’s up with you?” Erik whispered, cleared his throat and repeated.

Patrick smiled.  “Fighting vampire and zombies, here.”

“Looks like it,” Erik replied.  “Enjoy yourself.”  Erik turned the large man around and showed him the door.  “Dude, you look familiar outside of the crap in your hair and the beard.  There was once this man, called Erik, the Brave.  That has become his name.  He is rumored to be unkillable.”

“Is that so.”

“Yeah, and you look like him.”

“Your full of crap,” Erik snapped.  Patrick laughed.  “I think you are the one full of crap.”  He then pulled a dark mass from Erik’s hair.  “Don’t touch my hair!”…

“What day is it?”  Erik sat in a grey plastic chair between the first and second checkout lanes.  He placed the jug of water on the right lanes and had several cans of food on the right.  He grabbed a can opener and a can of beans.  His hangover began to pass near mid-day.  The can of beans would be iffy on an unsettle stomach.

Erik looked up at the noon sky through the dirty window.  Several bodies milled around outside.  Unlike earlier in the morning Erik could make out that these bodies were aimless, likely zombies.  Erik drunk a swallow of the water as he finished the beans.  His stomach rumbled but Erik stood his ground.  “It feels like a Sunday.”

Erik stands.  His head swims.  He turns and searches the checkout for a cloth or paper towel.  He finds a dirty roll of paper towels.  He grabs a…

I started writing a new first chapter for “A Destruction of Angels” last night. My gut keeps telling me to start with my main character and in first person. It’s a much better representation of the rest of the book. Plus it’s one of those “rules.” And it’s probably a good one, especially for beginners. Had I more experience or a huge following I could probably break that rule, but in this case I think its wise to follow it.

So we’ll see where this chapter takes me. It won’t be a long one, but I think it will clear up some things that my betas keep asking about. And everyone will be introduced to the main character right off the bat.

Ugh…that first chapter. Its’ so damn important!

Anyway, I’m off to Mt. Charleston for some hiking today. Maybe I’ll get a burst of creativity. Hopefully I won’t spend…

The banging on the windows eventually stopped.  Erik kept himself busy in the back of the store.  The zombie that had made him laugh was still prowling the aisles searching for Erik but Erik didn’t care.  The sickly beast was slow and stupid and it was often entertaining.  Within two days Erik named the beast Simon and would laugh at it from behind the warm glass doors that used to hold the milk.  Within a week Erik had all the food and amenities he need in the back of the store and he also had security.  Occasionally, he would run through the front of the store to aggravate Simon or to grab some liquor but most times he sat alone watching the pitiful thing stumble around the store.  Near the end of the first week Erik had drank a bottle of whiskey and stumbled over the metal rack that held…