Automatic

Published in Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions.Another anthology tale, written for the Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions collection, edited by Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong. That amazing anthology is the result of Melissa and Kelley inviting a bunch of their author friends along for a road-trip signing tour called the Smart Chicks Kick It event, and it was a huge success and blowout fun. To help fund the tour (because all of us pitched in for costs), they put together this anthology, which also allowed us to give back a little to our readers.This stand-alone story is set late in the series, but before the Daylighters show up, and it deals with something I’ve always wondered about … We have vending machines for snacks, cold drinks, even hot drinks. Why don’t the vamps have one for blood?Well, this examines why it might not be such a great idea, by way of Michael’s experience. A sweet little love story, too, in an unexpected way.Fun factoid: I was addicted to soft drinks in college (not coffee) and if I couldn’t find a working machine that served Dr Pepper, my day was bound to go almost as badly as Michael’s is about to, in this story. Physics class without the sweet relief of soda? Unthinkable!