Today, I’d like to share a bit about my third Riverbend spinoff novella, The Emissary 3: Love Hurts. This little series was a great deal of fun to write, and I hope you’ll enjoy learning a bit more about it. Thanks for reading!
” Sometimes Even Angels Hate to be Right.”
BLURB
Azrael’s emissary program was growing daily, but it still met with stubborn opposition from many on the Council of Angels. Dodger’s request to be allowed to experience what falling in love was all about didn’t help matters, but Azrael thought the boy was onto something. He agreed emissaries who’d shared a loving relationship during their mortal lives would have a deeper understanding of human emotions and motivations, thus enhancing the skills needed to do their jobs.
With that in mind, Azrael gave Dodger one chance to search for true love. He then laid down a daunting set of stringent rules and guidelines that could not be broken under any circumstances lest dire happenings occur. But while the angel sincerely hoped Dodger would find a way to make this endeavor work, he feared an avalanche of unintended consequences could be in store for his youngest emissary.
Sometimes even angels hate to be right.
Will Azrael ever tire of popping up behind Jake just to see his first emissary fall out of his chair in shock? Will sharp-eyed motel owners ever notice a big red-and-white semi mysteriously appearing and disappearing from their parking lots overnight? And will Dodger be able to track down the mystery girl who caught his eye two weeks earlier to see if she’s really The One?
To find the answers to these and other angelic or emissarial questions, come along on one last adventure with Jake, Dodger, and that ginormous, glowy-eyed archangel, Azrael. They’re waiting for you!
EXCERPT
January 15, 2015
“Standing on the Corner”
The Four Lads
~~~
Two Weeks into the New Year,
Still Haunting a Sleepy Florida Town,
In Search of a Young Man’s Dream.
“DODGER? YOU ABOUT ready to wrap this up?”
“Just a few more minutes. Please, Jake?”
“Okay, but I’m going to stop for a cup of coffee. And maybe a piece of pie.”
Dodger kept walking, looking into every shop along the way, which was a big improvement over loitering around on street corners, drawing stares from passersby. This was his third circuit around the diner, and he’d gone up and down each side street in the vicinity, as well. It was his fifteenth day of trying to catch sight of his dream girl. And it was a sure sign he wasn’t kidding around about finding her. He’d just ignored Jake’s second offer of coffee and pie.
Saying no to food of any kind was something Dodger didn’t believe in, and seeing him turn down his favorite dessert was truly shocking. Under other circumstances, it probably would have warranted rushing the kid to the emergency room. But, acutely aware of how desperate Dodger felt about tracking down the girl he’d literally bumped into on New Year’s Eve, Jake waved him on and returned to the diner alone.
After grabbing a stool at the counter and ordering his coffee, Jake pondered Dodger’s predicament. Dealing with matters of the heart was difficult enough for folks still struggling with mortal lives, but for the two of them, it was even worse. They no longer qualified as mortal. Nope. Dying and being selected by the archangel Azrael to act as the world’s first angelic emissaries definitely kicked them right out of that category and into one far less well-defined.
Oh, sure, they looked like ordinary humans, thanks to Azrael restoring their bodies to them. And they could be injured if they weren’t careful. But that’s pretty much where the similarities ended. As emissaries, they were now faster, stronger, more resilient, and, best of all, immortal on this plane of existence. They also had other powers no human could hope to attain—unless, of course, that human had also moved on to the next life and been recruited by an overworked archangel looking for help.
Yeah, despite their perfectly normal appearances, the two of them had become something vastly different. And yet, Dodger still clung to his hope that one day, he’d meet the perfect girl and experience what falling in love was all about. His mortal life had come to a brutal end before he’d had a chance to accomplish that, but he wasn’t ready to give up. Right now, his hopes were pinned on a pretty young lady he’d spied early on New Year’s Eve, as she struggled to pick up an armful of books she’d dropped outside the very diner where Jake now sat.
Azrael—who freely admitted his concept of emissaries to the angels was so new, he had to make up the rules as he went along—understood the boy’s fervent desire. After all, one of the things that would allow his emissaries to excel at their jobs was that they, unlike angels, had lived their lives as mortals. They had a perspective on all aspects of being human that angels did not, which Azrael believed would make a vast difference in how they related to the very people they were trying to help.
After a lengthy study of every imaginable outcome—including the multitude of painful, unintended consequences that could arise from an emissary/mortal relationship—Azrael had agreed that such a thing might be permitted. Once. And he’d laid down a veritable mountain of strict, non-negotiable rules as to what could and could not be sanctioned.
Even though those rules made perfect sense to Jake, he knew they’d be pretty difficult to adhere to. Yet, to his surprise, Dodger understood the reasons for them and accepted that he had to get it right the first time. His chances of ever making this happen were slim. Not impossible, but definitely slim—which was why watching his boy’s fruitless search for the girl he’d declared to be The One was breaking Jake’s heart.
And then, the diner door swung open and miracle of miracles, in she walked. Jake grabbed his phone, but just as he pushed Dodger’s number, his heart sank again.
She wasn’t alone.
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Author Marcia Meara
Marcia Meara lives in central Florida, just north of Orlando, with her husband of over thirty years and four big cats.
When not writing or blogging, she spends her time gardening, and enjoying the surprising amount of wildlife that manages to make a home in her suburban yard. She enjoys nature. Really, really enjoys it. All of it! Well, almost all of it, anyway. From birds, to furry critters, to her very favorites, snakes. The exception would be spiders, which she truly loathes, convinced that anything with eight hairy legs is surely up to no good. She does not, however, kill spiders anymore, since she knows they have their place in the world. Besides, her husband now handles her Arachnid Catch and Release Program, and she’s good with that.
Spiders aside, the one thing Marcia would like to tell each of her readers is that it’s never too late to make your dreams come true. If, at the age of 69, she could write and publish a book (and thus fulfill 64 years of longing to do that very thing), you can make your own dreams a reality, too. Go for it! What have you got to lose?
Buy Marcia’s Books Here
Novels
Wake-Robin Ridge: Book 1
A Boy Named Rabbit: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 2
Harbinger: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 3
The Light: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 4
Swamp Ghosts: Riverbend Book 1
Finding Hunter: Riverbend Book 2
That Darkest Place: Riverbend Book 3
Riverbend Spinoff Novellas
The Emissary 1
The Emissary 2 – To Love Somebody
The Emissary 3 – Love Hurts
Poetry
Summer Magic: Poems of Life and Love
Reach Marcia on Social Media Here:
Blog: The Write Stuff
Facebook
Email: marciameara16@gmail.com
The Write Stuff 