What's My Line?

(Contest)

In a few hours I'll be off to the Book Expo of America -- one of, if not the largest, book and publishing conventions in North America. It is held in New York City this year, just a touch closer than last year's D.C. trip (particularly when I was in California the previous weekend).

Hopefully I'll get a chance to prowl through the various publishers and businesses at the convention, and maybe post some images while I'm at it.

In the mean time, I thought I'd post a snippet of the upcoming "Burning Bright" episode with Caley Faith Dayton. The art is by Jason Whitley -- a dedicated and extremely hardworking artist. To avoid giving away details, I'll leave this to the imagination. Is that a .45 and a 9mm?

Obviously there is more to the story than this edited frame. In fact, the text has been removed, leaving Caley's thoughts to imaginative speculation. My guess is the fellow on the floor is no longer having thoughts. Then again, he could.

Either way, if anyone cares to come up with a clever bit of dialogue for this scene, feel free to email it to me or post it. Given Caley's vocabulary, the language can be strong -- but I'd expect not graphic. Of course, I'll be the judge, and there is not "right" answer. Just a close match. And who knows, maybe I don't have one and I'm tricking someone into giving me one. :)

I'll select the top two lines and mail either a copy of the magazine containing episode #1 of "Burning Bright," or a copy of Artifacts: Memories out of Space and Time, which contains the short fiction story with Caley (titled "The Tiger"). It originally appeared in the anthology Dark Furies, but I believe that is out of print now.