“Shutdown”, will be available free for the duration of the government shutdown. Once the government is back in business then the short story will no longer be available on line, at least not until my publisher and I figure out what we might want to do with it. But for right now, while we’re all wondering how it got to this point, here’s a brand new Anita Blake short story, featuring our favorite bad boy werewolf, yep, I mean Richard Zeeman. Hey, I’ve been telling you, he’s been working his therapy: read on to see the results that hard work and being brave enough to own your whole self can get you. - From goodreads
~~
"Shutdown" was a quick little freebie offered by Laurell K. Hamilton and I think a great look into the personal real-life consequences that sometimes result from staying true to who you are. Anita, Richard, Micah - they have the most screen time in this story but ultimately it's about what we want for ourselves to be happy and the balancing act that can require. Hamilton returns to the emotional roots of her series with this short and I think if nothing else it shows why so many of her fans keep coming back: at the heart of every one of us is a soul who just wants to be happy, someone who wants to accept themselves and be accepted by other people and the world doesn't make us any promises. There's no guarantee that will happen.
