We have with us again a really special guest blogger – Estevan Vega. As I mentioned yesterday, Estevan’s second novel, THE SACRED SIN, was published when Estevan was only 18 and it’s really a testament to his determination that he’s going after his dream at such an early age.

I hope Estevan keeps it up and has great success in the publishing world.

Midwest Book Review said of THE SACRED SIN “A deftly written psychological thriller sure to grip readers all the way through, “The Sacred Sin” is highly recommended for community library thriller collections and fans of the genre.”

So please welcome Estevan back again and take a moment to check out his novel! Anyone leaving a comment on the blog by midnight EST on Friday, June 19th will be eligible to win a SINS OF THE FLESH T-shirt as well as a SINS OF THE FLESH lunch bag.

“Do you think you’re crazy?” Dr. Irons asked for the third time.

It wasn’t a question someone like Jude Foster could answer with ease. Such questions simply wouldn’t permit an effortless yes or no. They came only with prerequisites, like “I don’t think I’m crazy, but if you keep asking me, we’re gonna have some problems,” or “Damn it, I’ve already told you what I thought.” Either way, Jude wasn’t in the mood for embellishing on his sad little story yet again. But, as always, the old doctor couldn’t stop himself from taking that meddling crowbar of his and prying Jude open like a reluctant wooden coffin. Sure, Jude tried hard as hell to forget about the night he almost died, but feelings of betrayal don’t willfully vacate merely because they were asked to leave. Dr. Irons filled his head with “all in good time” that “in time” meant absolutely nothing. But, like all things in his life, Jude buried the memories and the hurt in the farthest parts of himself so that not even he could exhume them. The medication wasn’t doing much either. All they left behind to show that they were even there in the first place were droopy black pools shadowed beneath his condescending eyes. Insomnia had certainly taken its toll…perhaps a small price to pay for a life full of mistakes.

“I told you I didn’t want to come today,” Jude began, “but I dragged myself out of bed because I have no choice. I’m not here for me; I’m here out of obligation.”

“You’re right. But your obligation to the commissioner is equally as relevant as your obligation to yourself. Not to mention I’m doing Chief Mike Harrison a favor.”

Jude was taken aback. He’d never heard a shrink say that one before.

“Although your psyche has become beaten and broken, it can be healed.” A long pause. “In time.”

There it was again. The phrase Jude loathed every bit as much as he loathed green beans or weekday mornings.

Jude rolled his eyes and cracked his spine. His narrow back tapered upward in a V-line toward his much thinner neck, and eventually formed his jaw-line. His face, and every crease in it, was like a page, read and re-read by hundreds of people, but not one could decipher what went on inside of him. His seemingly misguiding features were offset by two arctic eyes, brown in the sunlight, but gray at the core. He’d gotten away with being Hugh Jackman now and then, as long as most kept their distance. He didn’t exactly come across with the same starstudded charisma or finesse. As he smoothed his dark hair, he felt his eyes linger onto anything but the gargoyle in front of him.

“I hate it here. I hate talking to you.” Jude couldn’t even hear himself anymore. It was like a silent film he couldn’t get out of. The old black and whites his teacher forced down his throat when he was in eleventh grade, the films with Chaplin and others he never cared to remember. He was a prisoner locked in this cell, and the gatekeeper had no intention of letting him out.

“You don’t hate it here, Jude. I’m trying to help you get your life back, and you’re almost there. Now, I know it seems odd for me to keep asking you this, but do you believe you’re crazy?”

Thanks for taking the time to read Estevan’s excerpt.

Also – thanks to all of you who have entered the various blog contests! The winners are:

Happy Marriage Sins of the Flesh Lunch Bag Winner: Pam S
Nocturne Blog CALLING T-shirt and an autographed copy of HOLIDAY WITH A VAMPIRE Winner: KCE1976 (is that you Karin?)

If you’re a winner, please mail your postal address to cpsromance @ att.net (no spaces).

Thanks!