New Kindle Edition of Saint Sebastian's Head (12/12/2011)

Second Kindle edition

The new Kindle edition of Saint Sebastian's Head has a new cover, author's note, and excerpt of The Mermaid's Pendant. This second edition is available in Amazon's lending library for Prime-Kindle owers. 

Here's the excerpt included as the product description:

The stranger studies me. I notice he’s got a stained canvas bag slung over one shoulder. Evidence? Ropes? Duct tape? Knives?

“You look like you’ve just seen a murder.” His voice when he speaks matches the depth of his gaze.

I twitch.

Something flickers across his face. His eyes narrow and his forehead furrows, as if he’s trying to figure out what planet I’m from. Or as though I’m a loved one who’s just returned after being gone a long time and he’s trying to understand the changes my absence has wrought. At last, he smiles, a cock-eyed curl that turns his brown eyes into half moons.

“Nope. You got me wrong. I was just dumpster diving. May I?” He touches fingertips to the canvas bag.

I look at the bag, trying to discern its contents by the outlines. Do I see any dark, wet blotches spreading over its surface? No. I give a slight nod.

He watches me as he drops the bag. Hero sits with his muzzle tilted, curious. The stranger squats and works the drawstring open. My heart flutters as he reaches in. I twist and lift my foot to step backwards. He doesn’t seem to notice, instead drawing out a large, blackened object and setting it on the ground.

It’s a wok of heavy-gauge aluminum—an expensive item from an upscale kitchen store.

“Isn’t it a beauty?” He runs calloused fingers over its rim. “Can you believe what some people will throw away?”

“Yes, I can.” The bitterness in my voice stuns me.