Tristram La Roche

• Antonia van Zandt
• Brooklyn Wilde
• Eden Summers
• Elin Gregory
• Jennifer James
• Kiran Hunter
• Mina Carter
• Rachel Firasek
• Rhonda Laurel
• Sue Lyndon
• Tara Lain
• Tristram La Roche
• Milly Taiden

Find us on Twitter: Oct 5th at 9:00 pm Eastern Time! Use the hashtag #Etopia for chat and prizes! I’ll try to be there.

Josh handed out bars of chocolate and some toffee things that reminded him of dog chews, and waved to the kids as they ran off into the night. As he closed the door he heard another firework explode and decided it was time to be sociable. He put on his heavy boots, shucked on his quilted jacket, and grabbed the flashlight from the table in the hall. Finally, he took the carefully wrapped flowers he’d bought on the way home.

Once he’d left the glow of the outside light behind him, he noticed that the clouds had cleared completely to leave a deep purple sky, the stars shining like polished silver studs. He hoped it would last. While the rain didn’t spoil his enjoyment, good weather would certainly heighten it. As he approached the village green, the telltale crackling told him the fire had already been lit. The tops of the trees, almost bare now, clawed at the sky like crooked, orange fingers in the flames’ light. Children drew shapes in the air with sparklers, mothers fussed with coats and hats, fathers busied themselves with fireworks and the beer stall.

“Josh!” A dark figure loomed out of Josh’s peripheral vision. “Just in time for the fun.”

“Hi, Ben,” said Josh, slapping the young priest playfully on the shoulder. As things had turned out, it had been a godsend having a gay priest in the village, though no one knew apart from Josh and Sam, of course. Josh couldn’t understand how Ben could want to be a Catholic priest, but Ben simply said that he had his own beliefs and Rome was fifteen hundred miles away.

Ben took something from his pocket and, linking arms with Josh, slipped the object into his friend’s coat pocket. “Better let you have that before I forget.”

“Thanks. I’ll get it back to you before morning.”

“I know. Don’t worry about that. Just enjoy yourself, okay?” Ben winked and tapped the side of his nose. “Halloween comes but once a year.”

I’m also talking to Elin Gregory about writing Love Lies Deep and other things: http://elingregory.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/halloween-heat-an-interview-with-tristram-la-roche/#comment-1416