The Dark Musings series is now available through the iBookstore!

The Dark Musings Series is now available in the iTunes store! Just search 'Dark Musings' and you'll find them!

Dark Musings, Special Edition

Dark Musings, Volume 2

Dark Musings, Volume 1

Sample Chapter Excerpt From 'The Pilgrim'

 The following excerpt is a sample of the upcoming book "The Pilgrim' by Jason Mott, and the text contained is the property of the author and subject to all copyright law.

 Copyright © 2013 Jason Mott

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

***SAMPLE***

Chapter One

As the sun beat down on the barren, heat-baked desert landscape, the solitary figure of a man emerged atop one of the hundreds of mighty dunes.

His faded black duster wafted behind him with each gusting blast of hot air, as he trudged forward using his tattered hat to shield his face from the blistering heat and the sandblasting effects of the wind.
His lips were cracked and dry, with a whitish appearance against his leathery, sunburned face. Several days worth of rough stubble stood out on his jaw; it had been nearly a week since he'd had an opportunity to shave, or bathe, for that matter.
His throat begged for water, wrestling with the pleas of his stomach for food, for his undivided attention.
He ignored both and continued on.
To the many places he'd visited, and the people he'd met, he was known only as 'The Pilgrim', a traveler of unknown origin and even lesser known intentions.
A strong gust of wind stole his equilibrium and he stumbled to his knees. He began to crawl, knowing that if he were to stop moving and give in to fatigue, he would certainly die.
Struggling to his feet, he chanced a look toward the horizon.
His gray eyes fell upon what he thought looked to be a settlement, though he couldn't be sure, he'd hallucinated a day ago when he expended much needed energy to dash toward what he thought was a caravan, which turned out to be nothing more than a deceptively shaped collection of sandstone boulders.
He decided to make for the settlement, whether it was a mirage or not.
After several steps, he collapsed again; this time, he didn't get back up.
He'd lain where he'd fallen for what seemed like hours, feeling the heat of the sun roasting him through his clothing when a blessed shadow overcame his prone form, blocking out the ball of fire in the sky.
He thought that his journey was finally over, and he would be claimed by whichever deity had standards low enough to take interest in one such as he, but instead, he felt a rough pair of hands pulling him from his sweltering, sandy grave and hefting him onto what felt like a wagon.
He didn't have the energy to open his eyes.
Warm water cascaded over his lips, which seemed to absorb more of the liquid than could pass into his mouth, but what did reach his tongue, was greedily gulped down.
He managed to look into the shadow that hovered over his face, the bright sun behind it, obscured anything beyond a silhouette, but even that seemed to have a savage outline to it, then it spoke in a gravelly male voice.
“You better just rest until we get to Haven, mister,” his gnarled hand adjusted The Pilgrims' hat until it covered his face and blocked out the glare of the sun. “I'll make sure you get there in one piece.”

In a moment, he was unconscious, and the wagon began to move.

*******

His eyes opened to reveal the blurry face of what appeared to be a man peering at him.
“You feeling better, friend?” the man asked, “you've been out cold for hours.”
The Pilgrim was braced by the mans' strong arms when he attempted to sit up, “not just yet, I'm afraid,” he croaked in a voice that made him sound like he gargled with razor blades, “your body ain't quite ready for all that moving.”
“Who are you?” The Pilgrim rasped, “where am I?”
“My name's Jed,” the stranger replied as he stuck out his hand and The Pilgrim took it, “I found you out on the dunes, and you didn't look like you were going to make it.”
“Where am I?”
“You're in Haven,” Jed answered as they shook hands, “what were you doing out there anyhow?”
As he propped himself up on his elbows, The Pilgrim realized that he'd been stripped of his belongings, and with a speed that would seem impossible in his current condition, he lunged at the man sitting before him and wrapping his arm about the other mans' neck.
“Where's my stuff?!” he barked.
Jed's face was turning a deep shade of red as he struggled in vain, “It's- it's in the- the box!” he spat.
The Pilgrim saw the box on the floor, and released Jed as quickly as he'd seized him.
“Wha- what'd you do that for?!” Jed coughed, “I'm helping you!” his hand was massaging his throat as he gulped air.
The Pilgrim had flopped off of the bed and was rifling the box, paying little mind to the spluttering man behind him, after a moment of searching, he withdrew an old, weathered-looking pocket watch from the box and examined it closely.
“That's why you attacked me?!” yelped Jed, who was still rubbing his throat, “why would I steal a piece of shit like that?!”
“If you had, you'd be dead now,” The Pilgrim muttered as he began to dress himself.
Jed had backed away to allow his guest some space.
“Look mister, I was only trying to help you,” he pleaded as he took another step away, “I don't want no trouble, take anything you want,” his filthy hands were shaking as he raised them to show submission to the younger mans' will.
The Pilgrim finished buttoning his shirt, “relax, I'm no thief,” he said as he took a step toward the trembling man, who he could now see was of an advanced age, and didn't look dangerous at all, “I'm sorry that I attacked you, it was a gut reaction,” he looked down as he exposed the palms of his hands, which were cris-crossed with scars, “I haven't had the luxury of meeting well-meaning strangers.”
This seemed to relax Jed, who'd stopped backing toward the door of his shack.
“I appreciate your help, Jed,” The Pilgrim explained, “I'm just not used to it, that's all.”
“Well, that's fine, but don't go doing that again, you hear?” Jed replied, more calmly than he felt, “what's- what's your name stranger?”
The Pilgrim had emptied the box of its contents and was now sitting, fully dressed, in a chair by the cot that he'd woken up in, “Just call me 'Pilgrim',” he answered as he surveyed the room, “that's always served me just fine.”
“Okay then, Pilgrim, what were you doing all the way out there in the dunes?” Jed asked as he pulled a stool out from under the rough-hewn wooden table that sat in the center on the small room, his grimy, gray hair clinging to the fresh perspiration on his leathery, ancient-looking forehead as he seated himself, “it ain't too hospitable out there, and you had no supplies,” he rubbed his scruffy chin and continued his observations, “I know the nearest settlements to Haven, and to get where you were from any of them would've taken weeks on horseback.”
Pilgrim leaned forward on his elbows and stared vacantly at the sand-covered wooden floor, “if I'd had a horse, you wouldn't have found me, I'd be relaxing in a tavern somewhere by now, none the worse for wear.”
The older man rose slowly and made his way to a barrel, from which he drew two tall mugs of water, and brought one to his guest, “here, drink some more and then tell me a bit about yourself, mister, if you don't mind, of course.”

Taking the mug, Pilgrim nodded to his host in thanks, “well, since we're going to do some sharing, why don't you tell me a bit about who you are, and what there is to know about this place, Haven, did you call it? And then, I'll tell you a little about myself,” he took a sip of the water, which had a slight oily taste to it.

***END OF SAMPLE***

Obviously, that isn't the end of the chapter, just a sample. So what do you guys think?

Please feel free to leave comments.

'The Pilgrim' is in the works..

I just picked up an older project and am currently re-working it. Hopefully, I'll have something more extensive on it soon. If you notice me mentioning 'The Pilgrim', you'll know that I got somewhere with it.

A Plea to My Readers...

If you have purchased and are reading, or have read one of my books, please write a review for it on the page that you bought it from, be that Amazon, Nook, Kobo or Smashwords; The sites will push the sale of my book if enough reviews are written. If you enjoyed the book, please let potential customers know, and help keep my dream of writing for a living, alive.

Sincerely,
Jason Mott

Dark Musings, Special Edition is now available!

Dark Musings, Special Edition can now be purchased at the following sites:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Smashwords

Here's the cover:

Dark Musings, Volume 2 is available for sale! Special Edition to follow shortly!

Dark Musings, Volume 2 is now available at the following sites:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Smashwords

Dark Musings, Special Edition will be available very soon, it is published and currently processing for sale!

Dark Musings, Volume 2 is finished.

The book is finished, I'm waiting for my 'editorial staff' (aka: My Wife) to finish proofreading it before I publish.

Dark Musings, Volume 2 is nearing completion.

For anyone that has been following my progress on Dark Musings, Volume 2, expect to see it published by the end of this week!

I've been on vacation from my regular job this week and have managed to get a fair amount of writing done, so, with a little work and some editing, it'll be publishing time!

For a small taste, here's a sample of the cover: