Somebody's got mysterious mail

Everybody's favorite 4,000-year-old succubus, a. k.a. Jezebel, got something mysterious in the mail! What what what could it be?

Jackie Kessler is serializing Book 4 of the fabulous Hell on Earth series, entitled Hell to Pay, and the prologue is up now. OMG, Helles Belles was one of the first urban fantasies I read, and it remains one of my favorite. The whole series rocks. I'm so psyched Miss Prolific is doing this #4 online.

So okay, what is Jezebel's first EVER piece of mail as a flesh-and-blood mortal? What is the deal? Why is it so mysterious?

I'm not telling. Go see for yourself.

Heroines who remind me of girls I knew in high school, Part TWO

Why am I doing this? See part ONE below.

Savi Murray: (Demon Moon by Meljean Brook)
Savi reminds me of that rare kind of girl who was liked by kids from all walks of life—burnouts, the nerdy smart set, even the jocks, (thanks to her fake ID selling business for the fictional Savi). She’s the girl who spent most of her time in the computer lab (when I went to high school, kids didn’t have their own computers to bring). Savi is one of the smarter heroines I read, which is highly enjoyable. In classes, the Savi type of girl I'm specifically thinking about was a bit of a screw off, only because she was bored by the lessons, being that she already knew everything. You can sometimes find a Savi type of girl in band, playing a more outrageous instrument like tuba or drums. And if bagpipes were allowed in band, she would probably go for that. Never flute.

Anita Blake (Anita Blake, Vampire Slayer by Laurel K. Hamilton)
In high school, Anita was one of those girls other kids didn’t understand, skulking around the halls in black. Really goal-oriented and tough and serious, and maybe a bit judgmental. I was slightly in awe of the Anita I’m thinking of, and I would’ve liked to know her better, but I if actually socialized her, I doubt she would’ve had much patience with me - she would’ve thought I goofed around too much, like I wasn’t a really serious person. Anita had precisely one friend, and together they had their own private, rich, interesting world. They could frequently be found doing interesting projects with some hip teacher.

Margrit Knight (Heart of Stone, C.E. Murphy)
I had a friend like Margrit—the serious smart girl who wins all the awards, and a member of a lot of clubs, on the paper and all that. We scheduled classes together, like German, where she was the star. We were also on track team and tennis team, where we had weird little private jokes. She had excellent taste in music and a slight weight fixation. My Margrit was sensible, reasonable, mature and fun. This Margrit type makes for a strong, totally admirable heroine.

Jezebel (Hell’s Belles by Jackie Kessler)
Jezebel was a girl I secretly watched and tried to copy in the fashion department, with dismal results. She smoked in the bathroom and sucked at gym class, math and all other classes, not that she cared. The Jezebel type I’m thinking of would seek out a more studious girl like me out around test time, begging for me to explain stuff to her, because she blew off class and homework. And I would help her and explain things to her, just to be near her, hoping she’d rub off on me a little bit. The Jezebel I remember was on the sexy dance squad, and then she was kicked off the sexy dance squad. An enjoyable heroine to read about.