A Blog Hop and a Blog Award

Mike Schulenberg must have read my mind last weekend. I was thinking how I haven't participated in a blog hop in forever, and voila! He e-mailed me and told me he had tagged me in the My Writing Process Blog Hop. And then, several weeks ago, my friend, David Walker, had nominated me for the Shauny Award, so I decided to combine the two into one post. This post!

Blog Hop: My Writing Process

The rules, as taken from Mike's post, require one to publish their post on a Monday and tag three people, who are supposed to publish their posts the next Monday. They tag three more people, and the blog hop spreads.

Here are my answers to the blog hop questions regarding my writing process.

1. What am I working on?

As most of you who will read this know, I'm working on the second book of the Adven Realm Adventures. I'm almost half-way through the first draft and I still don't have a title.

2. How does my work differ from others in its genre?

Oh, let me count the ways. The Adven Realm Adventures take place in the Darag-Realm (fantasy) and our world, the Adven-Realm which I've been told is unusual. The books are a genre conglomeration of fantasy/adventure/romance (which apparently bothers some people.) There aren't many fantasies around (that I know of) where the heroine is a parent. There are adult themes, but my style of writing apparently is Young Adult-ish. I'll just stop there, as those are the biggest.

3. Why do I write what I write?

Because I'm a mother and work with children and they are important to me. I write fantasy because I love the fantasy world, with magic, and monsters, and beasts, and heroes, and elves, and where anything can happen.

4. How does my writing process work?

Oddly. About the only thing I know for sure is that I really like using the technique for scene construction Jack Bickham outlines in his book Scene and Structure. It saves me a ton of time and effort.

Developing story ideas seems to work best by talking about the story out loud. It's that external processor thing. My husband is great at letting me rattle on and work stuff out. For some reason it doesn't work as well if I'm just talking to myself. I also daydream a lot.

I've been using a mind map this go round, because the plot is more complicated than in Finding Meara. The sub-plots all are tied to the main plot, and there's a lot to keep track of.

Shauny Award for Blogging Excellence

Here is what David had to say about the Shauny Award:

It was created last November by Doctor Rex (Horty, as she likes to be called) in honor of Shaun Gibson, a Scottish blogger who lives with chronic pain syndrome. I know little about either of these people, but I know Raani has been a faithful follower, and I appreciate the award because it’s from her.

The sentiment in which the award was created is just beautiful and the only rules, if you can call them rules, are these:

Show Humanity, Show Love, Be Yourself, Don’t Be Others, Don’t Gossip, and Share This Award with 10 others.

I am very honored that David thought of me.

So, as for the tagging. Most of the people I would tag are not really actively blogging right now. So, I'll just list the people I believe demonstrate the characteristics of the Shauny Award, who are writers, and they can participate in both or either blog hop if they want to. :)

1.DD Falvo - one of the classiest, self-aware, kindest, talented writers I know. She also happens to be one of my critique partners and I am so lucky.

2. Suzi Retzlaff - Suzi is so loyal and always helpful and supportive. And talented! Another talented writer who I'm fortunate to have willing to give me feedback.

3. Stacy Jensen - Best copywriter I know, as well as web designer and book trailer creator in the making! She also happens to be super nice, assertive in the kindest of ways, and strong.

But! I also appreciate Lexa Cain, Tonya J. Loveless, Linda Hatton, Brin Jackson, Claudine Jaboro, Lara Britt, and Tonia Harris, because they all are inspiration to me as writers and as human beings.

Oh my gosh! This is me adding to this post, because I forgot someone. I don't know how I forgot Roland Yeamons to start with, but he definitely needs to be included. He is the epitome of persevering through adversity. I'm so lucky he's become my tweet-friend. He always has a smile in 140 characters.

Have a lovely week, and I'll see you on Friday.

Funny Friday Photos and a Sweet Award

Happy Friday! I think I need to reacquaint myself with you all! Between moving my parents to Nebraska and attending the Eric Jensen conference "Teaching with Poverty in Mind," I totally got all blogging/writing discombobulated. I missed Friday Photos last week because I was marooned in Dallas, Texas, after my flight on Thursday was cancelled. My bags made it to Denver on Thursday, but I didn't! That put me behind on everything, including picking my children up from my parents in Nebraska, and so I missed the first installment of "Something Bizarre Happened." I even had a great story from being marooned in Dallas.

All water under the bridge now, right? While I was taking my forced break, my wonderful writing friend, Melanie Marttila, bestowed a new blog award upon Motivation for Creation! Here it is!

The Super Sweet Blogging Award!

There are some rules, which include answering some sweet questions, but I promise I'll be brief, so we can get to the photos. Or, if you want, skip this part and head right to the photos below!

The rules:

• Thank the person who nominated me.
• Answer five Super Sweet questions.
• Include the award in my post. (check!)
• Nominate a baker's dozen of deserving bloggers. (gulp.)
• Notify my nominees on their blogs.

The Thanks:

Thank you, Melanie, for the fabulous new award! I love blog awards!

The questions:

Cookies or cake?

Both. I eat cookies more because they're easier to make, and don't spoil as fast, but I love both.

Chocolate or vanilla?

Um, vanilla, I think. I choose plain vanilla ice cream and vanilla cake over chocolate ice cream or cake. However, I love chocolate candy bars, pudding, pie, etc... So, I guess maybe both, again?

Favourite sweet treat?

Chocolate chip cookies - from dough to cookie. And I usually eat more dough than cookies.

When do you crave sweet things the most?

All the time. I have a bad habit.

Super sweet nickname?

My husband and I call each other sweetie. :)

Nominations: I don't have thirteen bloggers to nominate, so I'll just come up with as many as I can think of:

Cindy Keen Reynders, David Walker, Denise Wilson Falvo, Lexa Cain, Kelley Lynn, Suzi Weiland Retzlaff, Nicole Bates, Stacy Stenberg Jensen, Mike Schulenberg, Joe H. (Cranky), Fel Wetzig. (I got eleven! If I'm forgetting someone, I'm so sorry.)

You are all so sweet and dear to me. You have stuck around and/or been helpful and supportive. Thank you and enjoy the award, if you want to accept it.

And now to Friday Photos!

This is the pun of the day, but I really think it gets the best costume for a horse award.

My favorite this week is the Eleplant. I just relate to the poor little thing. I'm always doing things like that. But Catnip totally cracks me up, too.

What is your favorite?

My Blog is Sunshine-y!

A year ago in April I participated in the My Name is Not Bob Platform Building Challenge led by the fabulous Robert Lee Brewer. The camaraderie was amazing, and at the end of the Challenge the Wordsmith Studio group was born. One of those fine ladies, Melanie Marttila of Writerly Goodness, passed the Sunshine Award to me last week!

Here it is!

What excited me most about this award is that I try to keep the blog positive and fun, and so to get an award called the Sunshine Award... Well, it made me happy. 

Here are rules. 

1. Link back to the person who nominated you.
2. Post the award image to your page.
3. Tell seven facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 10 other blogs.
5. Let them know they are nominated.

My Seven Facts

I've got four dogs, and they're all named Quechuan words because my husband and I loved our time in Peru so much. (Raymi, Killa, Inca and Tumpa)

I have been known to dye my hair wild colors, but lately I'm sticking with auburn to cover my increasing grays.

My great-grandparents immigrated from Italy.

I'm an old/new Dr. Who fan. I loved the 70's version, but became reacquainted with the good Doctor when I was home sick in November. Matt Smith rocks!

Okay, I give up. I can't think of anything else that I haven't already said on other blog award posts. I'm actually quite boring.

My Nominees

My nominees are in my sidebar. I truly enjoy every single blog that I listed over there. Those blogs are some of the most awesome, inspirational blogs on the internet, and they are written by some of the nicest and most supportive people on the internet. I love you all!

A huge thank you, Melanie Marttila, for the lovely award!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

Time has flown like a river from when I received the Leibster award from Sharon Vander Meer and J.B. Everett in May.  In the meantime, I received The Booker Award from the ever-kind Emily R. King and The Fabulous Blog Ribbon from the generous Ashley Nixon.  So first I want to say "Thank You" to all four fantastic bloggers for thinking kindly of my blog.  

Photo Courtesy Freedigitalphotos.net

Thank You!

To receive this award the blog must be at least 50% about books (reading or writing). The recipient must share their top five favorite books (at least) and then pass the award on to five other bloggers.
The way I'm going to do this is give both awards to five different blogs (to keep it short and sweet!) so I'll wait until the end to share the new recipients.

My top five favorite books

*  The Taking by Dean Koontz
*  The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
*  Prey by Michael Crichton
*  Ringworld by Larry Niven
*  The Last Oracle by James Rollins

The rules for this award are to post the rules (check!), name five fabulous moments (either real life or in the blogosphere), name five things you love, name five things you hate, pass the ribbon on to five other bloggers (and let them know in their comments!).

My Five Fabulous Moments

Getting married to my husband
Having my first child (didn't think we could have children)
Having my second child (NEVER thought I'd have two children
    -He's my "bonus baby"
Graduating with my Masters of Social Work
The first time I saw my name in print as author

Five Things I Hate (let's end on the love part!)

Selfishness
Rudeness
Laundry (especially folding underwear)
Seriously, I can't think of anything else right now.

Five Things I Love

My family (including my Mom, Dad and Nephew)
The blue sky and open spaces of the prairie
Hearing my boys giggle
Kindness and Affection
To Laugh

Five Bloggers Who Are Fabulous and Blog about Writing/Reading

Lauri Meyers at Your Imagination is the Limit
Diane Carlisle at Are We There Yet
Suzi at Literary Engineer
Donna at Always Write
Vaughn Roycroft (since I told you how much I like his blog last week)

Have a great week and a lovely Fourth of July. I will be posting on patriotism on the Fourth over at the Life List Club blog, so if you'd like to stop by, I'd be happy to see you!

Winners and Awards

I didn't plan on posting this weekend, but I got some more blog-love and thought I'd spread it around!  Also, I'm thinking I'm not going to be posting on my own blog this week, since I possibly (not yet sure for Tuesday's post) have two guest posters lined up.  More about that later...

First, I'd like to announce the 100 Followers Party winners.  I used a random number generator on the Psychic Science website to pick two of the twenty-six commenters.

The lucky bloggers are...

Nicole Pyles and Hope Roberson!

If you both would e-mail what kind of gift card you would like, and how you want me to get it to you, at laschiff@yahoo.com, I would really appreciate it!  Congratulations!

Now for the awards part!  Earlier this week Randy Lindsay from the Campaign tagged me, and then today, Hope Roberson bestowed on me two beautiful new awards.

and

I just love these awards!  They are so cool.

There are some questions involved with both the tagging and the awards, so I'll get right to it.  For the tagging, I took out some of the questions I've already answered, either here in earlier blog-games, or over at Leigh's.  

Tag, I'm it!

First story you remember writing:  My sister and I wrote an eighty-ish page story that centered around our Duran Duran obsession when I was in high school.  We also wrote a screenplay for an episode of the X-Files.  I wonder where those are?

First Car:  1981 Dodge Colt (in 1990.  It was free because my Dad repaired it back to life for me.  I have the best parents.)  The first car I bought was a 1994 Ford Aspire.

Guilty-Pleasure: I don't have much self-discipline, so every day I give in on something, usually food related.

Do you use foreshadowing to strengthen your plot-line:  Like with everything else writerly, I do try.  I find that I'll do things intuitively and hope they work, rather than have a lot of thought about it.  Since I'm into the editing stages now, that may change.  When I did the first read through, things like opportunities to foreshadow or deepen characterization were obvious, but while writing the first draft I didn't even think about it.

How often do you check stats:  I'm too embarrassed to tell the truth.

What influences what you write:  Injustices I see at work, or in the world.  I'm a big good versus evil kind of person.  I want the good guy to win, and for evil to get it's comeuppance.

Most important thing that happened to me this year:  I attended the Writing the Rockies Conference at Western University this summer.  I signed up for a critique of my first twenty pages, and was assigned Russell Davis to critique it. As a past president of the SFWA, I was really nervous to hear what he said, expecting him to tear it apart. He told me four things that have influenced my self-esteem as a writer, which is why it's the most important writerly thing to happen to me this year.  1) He said if you don't feel confident, act like you do, because you need a certain amount of arrogance to survive in this field 2) He told me I could write 3) He told me my story "kind of intrigued him" 4) He told me that he would have quit reading at any time if the story didn't intrigue him, and he read the whole thing.  It made me feel like I might have a chance. 

Author you most resemble in writing style: I can honestly say I don't know.  Anyone have any suggestions?

And for the awards:

Favorite color: Varies, but right now I'm partial to purple.

Favorite animal: My Viszla, Raymi

Favorite number:  I have never had a favorite number!

Favorite non-alcoholic drink: Diet soda or any kind. I need to quit.

Facebook or Twitter:  Twitter.  I do have a Facebook account, though.

My Passion:  Writing?  That's about all I have time for.  Otherwise, science and magical "stuff"

Getting or giving presents:  Since I'm older now, I'm more about giving, especially with my little boys.  I don't spoil them, but I do like making them happy. :)

Favorite pattern:  A-B-A-B-A-B?

Favorite day of the week:  Friday.  We kind of have a little celebration each night with pizza, pop, and video games.

Favorite flower:  Lately, Sunflowers and Zinnias.  They grow beautifully even in our semi-arid conditions.

Okay! I'm not going to tag anyone else, because I did that before and couldn't find hardly anyone, but thanks so much to Randy for letting me play again!  For passing on the awards, I am going to choose people who haven't gotten an award from me before. (I am having anxiety now because I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings!)  

And the awards go to:

CJ Parmenter 

Ozlem Yikici

Stacy S. Jensen 

Nicole Pyles 

El
L.G. Smith

So, I'm stopping there!  Thank you again to Randy and Hope!  This week I may have Eric from Eric Blues over for a techie-geeky guest post, since he is the techie-geeky-go-to-guy for me.  This Friday is a Life List Club Friday and I have the great pleasure of having Gary Gauthier from Literary Snippets come and visit. I will be over at Jess Witkins' Happiness Project, talking about something happy.  I haven't planned that far in advance yet!  Have a great week!

Super-Cute Blog Award and Upcoming Events

Isn't that just cute! 

I have to say a huge thanks to Trisha at Word + Stuff for thinking of me.  You all already know how wonderful I think Trisha's blog is, and if you don't know for yourself, get on over there!  What are you waiting for?!

I love this award! I have never seen it anywhere before, so I'm so excited to add it to my blog awards page.  Copied from Word + Stuff, the award is named 'The thumbs up from Skunk award' since "we all feel like stinky, stinky skunks some days" and there are people who "make us feel (and smell) a lot better".

To pass the award on, I have to name one thing that you love about yourself, then pass on the award to as many bloggers as you want to! How simple is that?

One thing I love about myself is that I still play. I get excited over the smallest things and the world still has some mystery left. People think I'm weird, but I love it about myself.

Bloggers! I hate to do this part because I really do want to give the awards to everyone. I don't want anyone to feel like the kid last picked at P.E. Okay, I'll be brave:

Cindy Keen Reynders - Saucy Lucy Wisdom - supportive of my writing since almost I began

Cassie Mae - Reading, Writing and Lovin' It - so friendly and supportive that I really do think she's one of the friendliest people I've met.

Kelley at Between the Bookends - always leaves lovely comments and makes me feel welcome in this blogging community

David Ludwig - wrote thoughtful comments all through the Nightgale Blog Challenge and found me on twitter.  What a guy!

Leigh Covington - because she asked to interview me, when I'm sure there are a lot more interesting and accomplished people out there to be interviewed!

I know there are others out there, and I truly do appreciate everything anyone does that gives me that little extra boost when I'm feeling all stinky. Even if I didn't pass on the award to you, I do recognize every kindness!

Upcoming Events

I am looking forward to more guest posters in February, and not just from the Life List Club!  At this time I don't have anything set in stone, but don't be surprised if you start seeing some new faces over here!  I'll also be guest posting at different blogs, and I'll let you in on where I go when those occur.  Please come over and say "hi." I get lonely...

My short story, Bear Hug, should be up at Hogglepot starting on February 5th.  Please take a little trip and see what you think!

I am very excited to participate in two blog hops in February.  

February 10th

The I'll Tumble 4 'Ya Blogfest : Click on the link to visit Nicki Elson's blog Not-So-Deep and sign up for this super-fun blogfest.  Then, on the 10th, post a picture or video sharing who was your 80's crush.  If you weren't alive, or too young to crush on anyone, pick out an 80's person who you would've crushed on.  It's going to be a lot of fun hopping around and seeing who everyone picked!

February 14th

The Is It Getting Hot in Here? Valentines Day Blog Hop:  Click on the link to go over to Reading, Writing and Lovin' It to sign up!  On the 14th, we'll all share one of our favorite kissing scenes from a book we've read, from our own WiP, make one up, or write about one of our own memorable kisses. Then we'll all hop around to "feel how sweet, romantic, or downright steamy other characters are getting smooched!"  Lots of people signed up for this one!

Wow - it's sounding kind of busy in my life!  And all this doesn't include actual writing and editing!

Here is a picture of Earnie the Emu.  I'm sticking him on here because I just love him.  The man who took the picture told me he's a very affectionate Emu, so it kind of goes along with the blog hops above.  Have a great weekend!

Six Awe-Full Life Experiences and a Passing of Awards

Earlier this week I was gifted by Kelley from Between the Bookends and Hope from My Protector, The Calling with the Versatile Blogger award and the Kreativ Blogger Award.

I highly recommend, if you don't already follow them, to go check out Kelley's and Hope's blogs, because they are fun to follow.  Kelley has fabulous posts that I never get tired of reading.  Hope has the best link lists regarding different writing needs I've ever seen.

Because I was in the middle of the week from hell, I didn't have a chance to accept the awards properly and to pass the awards on right away.  I am going to do that today!

I have received the Versatile Blogger Award before, and if you would like, you can read that post here.  I was still excited to receive it again, because of the cool, new badge! 

To accept the awards, I am supposed to tell you all interesting facts about myself.  I decided to choose six awe-full (meaning full of awe) moments in my life.  I love the feeling of being overwhelmed with the beauty or miracles that can be found in the world, if you just take time to notice them.  So, here we go!

*  Not trying to be sappy, but I thought I'd get this one out of the way first.  Being pregnant was truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  I was made to have babies, I think.  That I got to do it twice was a blessing.  Holding my children after giving birth to them, knowing that I grew a human being, is truly a miracle.  I'll throw in marrying my husband on this one, too.  I didn't think it would happen, and I am so grateful that it did!


*  When I was nineteen, I nannied in New York City, at the same time as my sister.  She arrived earlier than I did, and the first weekend after I got there, she took me into the City.  I will never forget stepping out onto the sidewalk in front of Penn Station.  My knees literally got weak.  The buildings went on forever, people were everywhere, a low-level hum of daily noise filled the streets and I totally went into sensory overload.  I fell in love with NYC that day.


*  While in New York (I nannied in Queens, actually) I got to visit the ocean for the first time.  My Nanny-family took my sister and I to Jones Beach one day.  The power of all the water stretching for miles was spectacular.  It was a blustery January day, and the waves crashed onto the beach and I felt so tiny.  I began to get an idea of exactly how huge the world is.


*  In 2001, I went to Ecuador for a three week language immersion trip.  On one of the weekends, I visited an hacienda near Cotopaxi, which is an active volcano.  I got to climb the volcano to the point where the snow begins (very hard to do, mostly because of the altitude) but the actual awe-filled moment was the trail ride we took.  It wasn't on a trail, though.  We meandered through the lands of the hacienda, through the potato fields, and into the plains. My sister had died six months earlier, and the whole trip turned out to be an escape.  In Cotopaxi, I galloped across the plains, my heart lifted by the expansive beauty surrounding me, and the horse running under me.  I felt free, in awe, and at peace.  Unintended hippo-therapy, I think.


*  Enough of the sad stuff!  My next awe-full moment was in Peru.  My husband and I went on a language immersion trip, staying with a family in Cusco (with whom I remain in contact with to this day).  Peru, or maybe I should say Cusco,  is just a magical place all by itself.  I love the people there, I love the history and traditions, I love the land.  All four of my dogs are named Quechuan names, in tribute to that wonderful region.  We went to Machu Picchu one weekend.  Our guide for the trip grew up in the Urubamba River area, and so he got us up to Machu Picchu before the sun came over the mountains, and placed us in the perfect location to watch the sun burn away the mist over the ruins.  There is no picture or video, or even words, that can capture the essence of the moment. You'll just have to believe me that it was awesome!


*  Dang this is long!  I didn't mean to write so much about each moment, but kind of got caught up.  Last one, and it's a quick one.  Every acceptance e-mail I've ever gotten.  My thoughts: "Holy Cow! Someone liked it enough to print it!" :)


Okay - six people I'm passing the awards to. I'm going to stretch out on this one, because Hope and Kelley already hit a lot of the people I would have given them to!  I also stand by my recognitions in the previous Versatile Blogger post.

Adventure Without End Tony Slater is a travel writer who is currently living in Australia.  I have had no interaction with him (through comments, etc...) but I love his posts.  They are funny and unique.

Aloha, and Hi! from HI Mark Koopmans is a stay-at-home father and writer who has a great sense of humor.  He's currently running a "Follow Your Dream" contest on his blog, so go over there to at least enter the contest!  You don't have to be a follower to play, but you might find out you want to join up anyway!  (I totally didn't mean to rhyme.)

My Imaginary Beings  Emilia Quill is from Helsinki, Finland.  I found her through the Nightgale Blog Challenge, and I love her stories.  The Sacrifice is amazingly poignant, and I think you should go read it!

Word + Stuff   Besides writing books, Trisha writes songs, for goodness sake. That is super creative, as far as I'm concerned!

Cranky Old Man  Joe Hagy writes about pretty much anything, but I really liked his post about bullying.  He has a great sense of humor, and isn't afraid to say anything.

Writing Fire  Nick Hight is a teenage writer/blogger from New Zealand who already has over 100 followers and an interesting perspective on writing and writing tips.  Definitely worth it to check him out!


Do you have any Awe-Full experiences you'd like to share?  I'd love to hear your stories!

Nightgale Blog Challenge #3 - Ahriman

It is time for the Thursday post of the Nightgale Blog Challenge, but before I make the big reveal, I need to make a correction.  Kristen Lamb's book I referenced in the post What's With the Blog Face Lift? is called Are You There Blog? It's Me, Writer. I had initially written the title wrong, and corrected it within the first day the post was published.  While it shows the correct title on the Edit Posts page, just now I made a comment and noticed the wrong title still in the post.  So, if you are interested in reading the book, please note the correct title. 

Also, I would like to thank Kelley from Between the Bookends and Hope from My Protector: The Calling for sharing the Versatile Blogger and the Kreativ Blogger Awards with me. I have to admit I get all warm and fuzzy inside when someone thinks of me for a blog award.  I'm going to share the love in a special edition post this weekend, so be on the lookout!

On to Ahriman...  The third prompt was To Die and Become One with Nature.

Ahriman

Samael scowled, and stood back, as far away from the scene playing out in front of him as he could get.

A wingless angel huddled, disheveled, on the ground before Ahriman. Her hands were bound behind her back, and a purplish bruise decorated the skin on her cheekbone. She avoided looking at Samael.

She knew why he was here.

Ahriman stalked around her, like a cat does a captured mouse. He turned to the Angel of Death.

“Why, Samael? Enlighten me. Why would an angel demean herself to become flesh and blood?”

Samael shrugged. If he didn’t answer, maybe Ahriman would get the hint, and get this over with.

The dark angel unsheathed a short sword from the scabbard at his waist.

“No? You don’t know.” He brought the sword down, stopping short of the angel’s head. She flinched, and Ahriman made a noise that might have been a laugh. “Don’t you ask when you take them to the Heavens? Oh, that’s right. They don’t go there, do they?”

“Are you about done?” Samael said, clenching his jaw.

Ahriman ignored him, and tilted the angel’s head with the flat edge of the sword so he could look into her eyes. “Why, precious angel, did you put yourself into such a position?”

She trembled, fear taking control of her body. Moving only her eyes, she tried to look away.

Swooping onto one knee next to her, Ahriman grabbed a handful of her hair, and yanked her head back. He put his face inches away from the angel’s.

“I asked you a question,” he snarled, his face twisted by fury.

A muffled sob escaped from her, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. The trembling of her body intensified to shaking. She closed her eyes.

Samael stepped forward, and then stopped, every muscle in his body poised for a fight he couldn't engage in.

“Just get it over with,” Samael said. He hated Ahriman more in that moment than ever before.

Ahriman let go of the angel’s hair, and made to walk away. Her face relaxed, and, in that moment, Ahriman turned and swung the short sword. It cut cleanly through the skin and bones of her neck. Before the head tumbled from her body, the angel’s spirit exited the prison of flesh. It had no form, and moved toward Samael like an earthbound cloud.

The cloud hovered in front of him. He could feel its anguish and fear from being disembodied and separated from I AM. It wasn’t right for an angel to end like this.

“You can go now,” he told the pulsating cloud. He ignored the dull ache behind his eyes as he watched the cloud disperse into the air currents.

Once the cloud had disappeared, returning to nature, he glanced over at Ahriman.

“Until next time,” he said, giving Samael a salute.

Samael watched as Ahriman crossed the room to leave, and remained silent. There was nothing to say. He would be there.