In Her Element: December 2002 Edition
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In this edition:

- News, previews, and a note. Welcome to the final IHE newsletter of
2002! Happy winter, y'all.

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NEWS

* _Dreams of Decadence Presents Wendy Rathbone & Tippi N. Blevins_ is
the "Book of the Month" over at the VampGirl website! Check it out
at http://www.vampgirl.com/books.html Want to know what it's all
about? You can read more news and previews from the book here:
http://www.tippinblevins.com/library/dreams/

* You can now read a novelette from the book online! "Gone", a
14,000-word story set in the American South, is the tale of a woman's
search for a friend she thought she'd lost forever. Forever, it
seems, is a very long time indeed.

The story, however, won't be up forever, so stop by the Library and
give it a read. http://www.tippinblevins.com/library/dreams/gone1.htm

* Last month's chat at Cybling was great fun. You can read the
transcript now at http://www.cybling.com/artists/blevins.html

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PREVIEW

From "Gone", a Tribal story by Tippi N. Blevins

(Appears in _Dreams of Decadence Presents Wendy Rathbone & Tippi N.
Blevins_, available at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1587153475/ )


Two boys and a girl crossed the cemetery toward me. The boys looked
sixteen, maybe seventeen--about the age of my blond look-alike. The
girl was a little older, wearing fishnets and knee boots and silver
chains, but still baby-faced and plump. She held a gas lamp out
before her, leading the way.

I looked away, heading for the gate, thinking I would just come back
later. But the girl darted around in front of me and the boys took
positions beside her, blocking off my path.

"You been comin' here a lot," the girl said, nodding toward
me. "Don't you know the dead don't care if you visit 'em or not?"

"Have you been following me?" I asked, glancing around for another
way out.

"We're hunters," the girl said. She cocked her head and smiled. "We
hunt."

She reached into her boot and pulled out a long, serrated knife; its
blade glinted in the rain and lamplight.

I took a step back, but one of the boys came around behind me,
grabbing my arms. The girl pressed the tip of the blade just beneath
my jaw.

"This is known tribal territory," the girl said. "Vampires come here
all the time."

"Vampire--" She pressed the tip of the knife harder against my
throat. I said carefully, "You've got to be kidding me."

"We seen you talking to one of them," she said. "So I figure you're
either one of them, too, or about to be. Makes no difference to me."

The boys kicked the back of my knees, and I went down. My neck
brushed against the blade. Pain followed the knife's path, like a
wake of ice, then stinging hot as blood came to the surface. I cried
out, frantically trying to reach up and press the wound, but the boys
jerked my arms back. Droplets of my blood mingled with the rain,
falling to the grass beneath me.

The girl set the lamp on a nearby monument and grabbed a handful of
my hair. She pulled my head down onto Lyn's grave, stretching out my
neck. I couldn't see what she was doing, but I could guess.

"Bye now," she said.

I screamed.

(Read the rest of the story:
http://www.tippinblevins.com/library/dreams/gone1.htm )

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NOTE:

From Tippi

It's finally starting to feel like winter. I'm curled up with a cup
of hot tea or cocoa on many days, reading a book, or jotting notes
for a story. I want to say thanks
for 2 years of the In Her Element newsletter. Coming up in the new
year, I'll have more news, stories for the website, and a
little "giveaway". I hope your winter is cozy and fun.

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That's it for the December 2002 edition of In Her Element. Thanks for
reading! Stay tuned for more news and previews next month.

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Are you a new member? Did you miss some news from previous months?
You can read previous editions at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/InHerElement/messages

Content in this newsletter is Copyright © 2002 by Tippi N.
Blevins.
All rights reserved.