Greetings from the Slush Pile

Every author has to cut scenes she loves from a book. Today we visit one cut from Dracula's Secret. I loved the sensuality and the ideas of traditional femininity. But it slowed down the plot to a snail's pace, so it had to go.

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      Valerie examined the headless body in front of her. This might be the most difficult thing she had ever faced. She touched the pit of her neck, the rest of her petrified by the sight.

      The dressmaker’s dummy, dressed in exquisite sunset orange European silk and cream-colored lace, paralyzed her.

      Jane’s Vanity was a small, unassuming, and thoroughly intimidating lingerie store. The vampire took a hesitant step towards the door and clutched the door handle. Her vision wavered. Hundreds of years of habit held her outside the store. Valerie had never worn any sort of sexually attractive undergarments since she’d begun dressing as a woman. Her quest had kept her focused on the all-consuming goal. Her expensive outerwear had been an investment in camouflage and disguise. Honesty forced her to admit that she had bought her dragon-embroidered coat for pleasure.

      Now she had the chance to wear something for pleasure. A terrifying thought.

      Fearlessness, she reminded herself as she swung open the gleaming door. A little bell rang cheerily as she entered the tiny store. As Valerie stroked a Belgian lace parasol, a small drama unfolded before her.  A shy-looking Indian woman swung a pink silk gown off the rack and held it in front of herself. The color brought out the gleam of her thick black hair and brought a healthy warmth to her brown skin. She smoothed the fabric against her body as she looked in the mirror.

      Valerie licked her lips at the sound of skin on silk, heat building in her belly. Centuries as a man had given her a deep seated appreciation of women.

Want to read the real story of Dracula? Read Dracula's Secret!

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