Moon Extras Read online

  Table of Contents

  Introduction

  1. Bonus Scene: Prison

  2. Bonus Scene: Hospital

  3. Bonus Scene: Hanner

  4. Bonus Scene: The Librarian

  5. Bonus Scene: Dinner

  6. Bonus Scene: Danny

  7. Bonus Scene: Flying

  8. Bonus Scene: Battle

  9. Bonus Scene: Street Shark

  10. Bonus Scene: Blinded

  11. Bonus Scene: Dracula

  12. Bonus Scene: Insights

  13. Bonus Scene: Ishmael

  More Sam

  About the Author

  MOON EXTRAS

  Samantha Moon - Bonus Scenes

  by

  J.R. RAIN

  Acclaim for the novels of J.R. Rain:

  “Be prepared to lose sleep!”

  —James Rollins, bestselling author of Subterranean and The Sixth Extinction

  “I love this!”

  —Piers Anthony, bestselling author of A Spell for Chameleon and Five Portraits

  “J.R. Rain delivers a blend of action and wit that always entertains. Quick with the one-liners, but his characters are fully fleshed out (even the undead ones) and you’ll come back again and again.”

  —Scott Nicholson, bestselling author of The Red Church and After: Whiteout

  “Dark Horse is the best book I’ve read in a long time!”

  —Gemma Halliday, bestselling author of Spying in High Heels and Lethal Bond

  “Moon Dance is absolutely brilliant!”

  —Lisa Tenzin-Dolma, bestselling author of Understanding the Planetary Myths and The Heartbeat at Your Feet

  “Powerful stuff!”

  —Aiden James, bestselling author of Immortal Plague and Witches of Denmark

  “Moon Dance is a must read. If you like Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter, be prepared to love J.R. Rain’s Samantha Moon, vampire private investigator.”

  —Eve Paludan, bestselling author of Witchy Business and Bigfoot Island

  Other Books by J.R. Rain

  STANDALONE NOVELS

  Winter Wind

  Bound By Blood

  Silent Echo

  The Body Departed

  The Grail Quest

  Elvis Has Not Left the Building

  The Lost Ark

  The Journey (with Piers Anthony)

  The Worm Returns (with Piers Anthony)

  Lavabull (with Piers Anthony)

  Jack and the Giants (with Piers Anthony)

  Dolfin Tayle (with Piers Anthony)

  Dragon Assassin (with Piers Anthony)

  Glimmer (with Eve Paludan)

  Lost Eden (with Elizabeth Basque)

  Judas Silver (with Elizabeth Basque)

  The Vampire Club (with Scott Nicholson)

  Cursed (with Scott Nicholson)

  The Black Fang Betrayal (with multiple authors)

  VAMPIRE FOR HIRE SERIES

  Moon Dance

  Vampire Moon

  American Vampire

  Moon Child

  Christmas Moon

  Vampire Dawn

  Vampire Games

  Moon Island

  Moon River

  Vampire Sun

  Moon Dragon

  Moon Shadow

  Vampire Fire

  Midnight Moon

  Moon Angel

  JIM KNIGHTHORSE SERIES

  Dark Horse

  The Mummy Case

  Hail Mary

  Clean Slate

  THE WITCHES SERIES

  The Witch and the Gentleman

  The Witch and the Englishman

  The Witch and the Huntsman (with Rod Kierkegaard)

  THE PSI SERIES

  Hear No Evil (with A.K. Alexander)

  See No Evil (with A.K. Alexander)

  Speak No Evil (with A.K. Alexander)

  NICK CAINE SERIES

  Temple of the Jaguar (with Aiden James)

  Treasure of the Deep (with Aiden James)

  Pyramid of the Gods (with Aiden James)

  DEAD DETECTIVE SERIES

  The Dead Detective (with Rod Kierkegaard)

  Deadbeat Dad (with Rod Kierkegaard)

  THE ACCIDENTAL SUPERHEROINE

  The Accidental Superheroine (with Kris Carey)

  My Big Fat Accidental Superheroine Wedding (with Kris Carey)

  SAMANTHA MOON CASE FILES

  Moon Bayou (with Rod Kierkegaard)

  THE WATSON FILES

  Sherlock Holmes and the Missing Shakespeare (with Chanel Smith)

  ICE WOLF SERIES

  Ice Wolf (with H.P. Mallory)

  ALAN QUATERMAIN ADVENTURES

  The Spear (with Randy Keys)

  WINTER SOLTSICE SERIES

  Convergence (with Matthew Cox)

  THE SPINOZA TRILOGY

  The Vampire With the Dragon Tattoo

  The Vampire Who Played Dead

  The Vampire in the Iron Mask

  THE ALADDIN TRILOGY

  Aladdin Relighted (with Piers Anthony)

  Aladdin Sins Bad (with Piers Anthony)

  Aladdin and the Flying Dutchman (with Piers Anthony)

  THE WALKING PLAGUE TRILOGY

  Zombie Patrol (with Elizabeth Basque)

  Zombie Rage (with Elizabeth Basque)

  Zombie Mountain (with Elizabeth Basque)

  THE SPIDER TRILOGY

  Bad Blood (with Scott Nicholson and H.T. Night)

  Spider Web (with Scott Nicholson)

  Spider Bite (with Scott Nicholson)

  SHORT STORY SINGLES

  Vampire Road

  Skeleton Jim

  Moon Love

  The Vampire on the Train

  Vampire Requiem

  Ghosts of Christmas Present (with Rod Kierkegaard)

  Easy Rider

  Dark Side of the Moon

  Blue Moon

  Vampire Gold

  Halloween Moon

  Vampire Dreams

  Vampire Blues

  Vampire Nights

  Teeth

  The Bleeder

  Vampire Rain

  The Santa Call

  POETRY

  Vampire Alley

  AS J.K. DREW - YOUNG ADULT AUTHOR

  STANDALONE NOVELS

  The Enchantress (with Randy Keys)

  Spirit Mountain (with Alexandra Swan)

  The Emerald River

  The Angel and the Gift

  Forever Silent

  Dare to Enter a Distant World

  YOUR CHOICE ADVENTURES

  Deep Sea Danger

  The Legend of Eagle Eye Mountain

  Playoff Pressure

  THE ROBOT TWINS

  The Mystery of the Walking Statue

  The Secret of Stonehead Island (with Randy Keys)

  KID QUEST ADVENTURES

  The Secret of the Sphinx

  J.R. RAIN PRESENTS - SELECT TITLES

  NOVELS

  Little Wolf (by K.T. Tomb)

  The Stargoose (by Robert Siegel)

  Dracula Rising (by Jackson Stein)

  VAMPIRE NATION

  Vampire Nation (by H.T. Night)

  Enemy of the Nation (by H.T. Night)

  BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE

  Burning (by Eve Paludan)

  Afterglow (by Eve Paludan)

  Radiance (by Eve Paludan)

  THE MEDIUM MYSTERIES

  Echo Park (by Elizabeth Basque)

  Silver Lake (by Elizabeth Basque)

  Hollywood Hills (by Eve Paludan)

  City of Angels (by Chanel Smith)

  THE HUNTRESS TRILOGY

  The Vampire With the Golden Gun (by Chanel Smith)

  The Vampire in the High Castle (by Chanel Smith)

  The Vampire Who Knew Too
Much (by Chanel Smith)

  Moon Extras

  Published by Rain Press

  Copyright © 2017 by J.R. Rain

  All rights reserved.

  Ebook Kindle Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Dedication

  To Tiffany, my niece.

  Table of Contents

  Introduction

  1. Bonus Scene: Prison

  2. Bonus Scene: Hospital

  3. Bonus Scene: Hanner

  4. Bonus Scene: The Librarian

  5. Bonus Scene: Dinner

  6. Bonus Scene: Danny

  7. Bonus Scene: Flying

  8. Bonus Scene: Battle

  9. Bonus Scene: Street Shark

  10. Bonus Scene: Blinded

  11. Bonus Scene: Dracula

  12. Bonus Scene: Insights

  13. Bonus Scene: Ishmael

  More Sam

  About the Author

  Moon Extras

  Introduction

  Welcome to Moon Extras, my book of collected bonus scenes!

  If you’re reading this collection now, there’s a pretty darn good chance you’re a loyal Vampire for Hire series reader—and, if so, I adore you to no end. I work hard to bring you the best Samantha Moon books possible, and I thank you for your support. It’s been a wild ride over 16 novels (14 in the main series, a Christmas novella and the Moon Bayou Case File). Oh, and 10 short stories (and even a poem!).

  Sam keeps me busy... and there is no limit to the world I am building with her and her many friends… and enemies. Oh, and frenemies. (Just wait until you get your hands on Silver Light, in which I introduce a very, very special mermaid into the world of Sam Moon.)

  Books are an infinite opportunity to explore a vast wealth of possibilities, or as I call them, multiverses. Multiverses are parallel universes in which alternate realities exist and beg to be explored and mined for all of their deep, dark secrets—and their funny ones, too.

  I don’t use outlines and because of that, good or bad, I often write multiple what-if scenes. I consider one option, and write the scene and sort of... test it, if you will. Then, finally, I choose the best of the best to present to readers in the published versions of my novels and voilà! That’s how my fiction is born. From many threads coming together in a big tapestry all woven together into the much-bigger story of a continuing series!

  How many ways can a plot go? I’m passionately curious about the answer to this question, so I take a writer’s meandering walk down many of those paths before my readers dig into one of my novels. I want readers to see Sam at her best, at her worst, at her wittiest, and at her fiercest, as she fights human and supernatural criminals, solves offbeat mysteries, raises her children, and finds true love in Southern California.

  I might choose to explore a scene with a darker Samantha Moon, or a funnier Kingsley (there’s no end in sight to those werewolf and canine jokes), or a more tragic ending for certain diabolical villains. I want to see where Sam takes me on, admittedly, wild rides that the reader might never get to see, so I branch out an idea until it veers off the beaten path a little too far. Once I have a plethora of scenes from which to choose, I pick one idea for my final version and continue writing the story.

  I usually do know about where I want a story to go, but I prefer to write more than I’ll ever use in the final version. And then, I edit out what doesn’t move the story forward in an entertaining, well-paced way.

  Though I’ve been writing fiction since elementary school, my years as a Hollywood screenwriter also contributed to my habit of creating multiple possibilities within a bigger story frame. Inside my head, a book-in-progress is exactly like a virtual movie. And I’m the director, saying, “Let’s see what happens if I play this scene darker, or lighter, or insert a fight scene, or slow down the story for a love scene.” I am, in effect, playing all angles I can imagine, and seeing which scenario rolls out the most naturally and works the best not for just the current novel, but for the whole series.

  Mostly, I love, love, LOVE watching my series grow into something I could never have imagined a few years ago. Never would I have thought Sam would journey to the land of Dur, or face down the devil, or grow wings. Never would it have occurred to me to imagine Anthony as the Fire Warrior, or to think that Tammy would mature into a powerful telepath. I love my characters, and I can’t wait to watch them grow further. I literally have no idea where they will go next, or what they will do next. I write for me as much as for you.

  Like movie makers, sometimes authors delete whole scenes. But I don’t cast my deleted scenes into the no-man’s land of the virtual “cutting-room floor.” Luckily, I save all my material in what I call “The Vault.” Sometimes I take a peek in that Vault and see what I have in there. Sometimes older scenes work for newer books, but not often.

  It only recently occurred to me that I had enough bonus scenes/outtakes in there to fill an entire book—and, whammo!—Moon Extras was born. I think each scene works independently of the story itself, but I do provide a little intro before each to give it context.

  I think you might get a kick out of these outtakes... scenes that might not otherwise have ever made it to the light of day.

  Now, without further ado, welcome to my little book of bonus scenes. I hope you’ll enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them! —J.R.

  Bonus Scene 1: Prison

  (Deleted from Vampire Moon)

  Author’s Note: Remember the scene where Samantha Moon punches through a sheet of bulletproof glass at the Chino State Prison in California? You do? Good! Anyway, I knew her explosive actions would warrant a deeper investigation by prison officials. Except that having officials investigate my vampire detective too deeply wasn’t the direction I really wanted to take the story. Ultimately, I decided to handle the aftermath of the glass-punching scene in an entirely different way... but not before I wrote the following deleted chapter.

  ***

  The Chino State Prison warden was an older man with a surprisingly gentle-looking face. He sat behind his plain desk, leaning back in a squeaky chair, steepling his thick fingers under his thick chin as he studied me. Just outside his office door stood two guards, watching us.

  Or, rather, watching me.

  The warden continued silently studying me with his kind eyes. Eyes that were, I suspected, deceptively kind. No doubt, they could harden in a heartbeat. But they weren’t hardened now. No, if anything, they looked lost.

  He looked lost. Confused.

  As he kept watching me, I kept sitting in the small chair in front of him. He took a deep breath and seemed about to say something, then closed his mouth again, and somehow looked even more perplexed.

  Finally, after about five minutes of this, he shook his squarish head and leaned forward a little in his seat. The chair squeaked loudly.

  “You punched your fist through a bulletproof glass barrier,” he finally said, his first words to me since sitting in front of him.

  I said nothing. I looked down at my right arm. The deep cuts that I suffered when I had reached through the jagged opening had already healed.

  “You punched through a bulletproof barrier,” he said again, but this time he wasn’t looking at me. He seemed to be trying to wrap his brain around the concept but, judging by the utter confusion in his voice, failing miserably. He looked up at me. “Do you have anything to say about this?”

  Bulletproof, yes. Vampire proof, no.

  “The glass might have been cracked,” I said.

  “But the glass is three inches thick.”

  “A big crack,” I said.

  He stared at me. His mouth opened a little. I saw his lips moving, trying to form words, but then he gave up and closed his mouth again. After a moment, he looked down at a piece of paper in front of him. The paper sat askew. He straightened it and read from it.
/>   “According to the prison hospital X-rays, you broke his nose, his jaw, his right cheekbone, his nasal cavity, and seven teeth.”

  “He threatened my children,” I said.

  “We know.”

  We were silent some more. I heard people talking excitedly outside the warden’s office. There was a pretty good chance they were talking about the freaky woman in the warden’s office.

  Me, of course.

  The warden next pulled open the narrow center drawer in his desk, fumbled inside, and then lifted something out. He shut the drawer again. He set that something on the desk in front of him. It was a chunk of broken glass. A big chunk of glass.

  “That’s a piece of polycarbonate thermoplastic, able to withstand clubs, axes, hammers, and especially, bullets.” He stared down at it as he spoke. “It’s made with dozens of layers of plastics and glasses, and is the latest of its kind. I will have it tested, but I most certainly do not think it was cracked or defective.”

  I said nothing. The broken section of glass looked like the world’s ugliest paperweight.

  He went on. “So, that means there’s a very real possibility that you actually punched through it with your fist.”

  There was nothing for me to say; hell, he wouldn’t like my answer, anyway.

  “Help me understand what happened here, Ms. Moon. I mean, I’m going to have to write a report on this. There are going to be legal implications. I can’t just say you punched through a bullet-resistant piece of three-inch glass.”