Ghost Stations EP – Valentine’s Night

I’m going to be up front: I’m not posting this story here on my blog. I’ve added a hint of where it is to the ebook ending of Ghost Stations, but since I’m not expecting everyone to go redownload it or anything, I’ll just say the story’s posted on The Exchange, and you should review Chapter 6: First Drag of the Day if you need more of a hint about that.

But I will give you this snippet, which is the sort of literary excellence you can expect from this story:

Corbin finally agreed with her assessment for the first time that night. “I’ll get you home.”

“No.” Kirin squinted at her phone. “The Feast’s still going full swing, and I’d only puke all over your car.”

“That would only improve it,” Corbin joked.

“Too drunk for home,” Kirin insisted. She cast about until she pointed to a bright yellow sign in the distance. “Get me to a Denny’s.”

I think this will be the last holiday-themed EP for a while. But Christmas time felt right for the first one, and with how things were left between Corbin and Kirin at the end of Ghost Stations, I figured it deserved its own conclusion. And what better time of year to resolve feelings than Valentine’s Day?

This will be the last story to feature Kirin for a while too. I honestly didn’t mean for her to be in Ghost Stations when I started developing the idea, but then remembered she was from there, so it felt natural. That then reminded me she mentioned a cousin in Rites of Passage, so I realized I had to include Wilton too. I really like Kirin, and she’s very much a counterpoint to Corbin, but it’s time she stands back for a while. Which makes this little ditty a good goodbye.

Kirin’s character was really a manic pixie dream girl in her first iteration, which was conceived back when I was in my 20s. And I’m reexamining her character now that I’m much older. All the while trying to stay true to how Corbin sees her. She seems so much more mature and worldly to him, who is 18 and terribly sheltered. And she is very much educated and experienced, even within the world of Inner Circle. But she’s still also 22-23 as this story takes place (I forget which), which still makes her a baby. Which is, I guess, how I’m explaining away all the dumb shit they get up to.

Anyways, this was a fun story to write, and I explored extrasensory consent a lot more than I expected. Because what’s cooler than that?

Oh, and Viv will show up again in book four. Consider yourselves warned.