Excerpt from my novel, The EVERSTEAM CHRONICLES, coming out this month! (August 2021)
In the shadow of an old decrepit, abandoned warehouse a hulking figure stood, methodically puffing on a large cigar. Sausage fingers curled around one end, bringing it up to long, thin lips spread grimly across the broad, scruffy jowled face. Half-cast eyes of piercing crystal blue rose above a hawk nose puckered with pockmarks. In the center of this massive face were grand, bristling, perfectly manicured handlebar mustaches. Meditatively he sucked in three quick draws. The end burned auburn, accenting sharp features and gleaming eyes. He dropped his hand, and three perfect rings of smoke issued out of his mouth. At equal intervals, the meditation commenced—puff, puff, puff, blowing out a ring, a second, and a third—againandagain until the cigar was burnt down halfway.
[Fan Art by Melina Rivera]
Jude Matulich-Hall, Writer 