Change Is Good?

Blogger has been frustrating me for several days. It seems to have developed an issue that's causing it to think that I'm always logged out, so it won't let me leave comments on some blogs. I decided I'd had just about enough when I realized that I couldn't respond to comments on MY OWN BLOG! What the heck? So I made some changes to the way comments are left on my blog. See, I'm hoping that it's the issue with blogger that is the reason I've had so few comments this week. Because, well, the other option is that it's just me. heh
So, yeah... if you've been having issues leaving comments, that should be fixed, now. I hope.

Change number two:
You may notice a new tabby thing up top. The new tab is the first chapter of the sequel to The House on the Corner. As you may also notice, it's called Brother's Keeper. I'm not certain that that is the title that will stick, but it's what I'm going with at the moment. I'd love comments on it. Of course, it's possible that it could be slightly disorienting if you haven't read House, yet. Then, again, maybe after reading it, you'll want to read House just so you'll know what's going on. Right? Right!

Change number three:
Well, okay, I'm not sure if this is exactly a change or not, but it's definitely a progression. I decided to hop in on a blogfest. My first. Yes, thank you. Thank you. I'm still not sure what I think about these things, but, for this one, I figured what the heck? Right. So it's the Power of Tension blogfest:

Here are the links to the hosts: Cally Jackson and Rachel Morgan. As you can see, today is the last day to enter. The scene I'm presenting is from The House on the Corner. It's fairly early on in the book, so you don't really need to worry about spoilers. I hope you enjoy it.

I guessed that must be the light, but I had never seen anything like it before. It made me want to try the lights or wake someone up to ask questions, but I knew if I did that, I wouldn’t get to explore on my own.

I decided, instead of opening any new doors, I would just use the one that was open. The one that led to the stairs. I stepped into the hallway and around the open door, pushing it almost closed. I didn’t want it to make any noise, so I didn’t close it all the way.

As I turned toward the staircase, a chill washed over me, and goosebumps broke out all over my arms. To the right of the staircase going up was another going down. The stairs started out wooden, just like the stairs going up, but, then, they turned to stone. The stairs just kept going and going down into the earth. Why was there a tunnel going underground in our house? I could feel the cold, damp coming up out of the tunnel and what felt like a long sigh. Without wanting to, I stepped down the first step. And, then, the next.

There was a low moan from the dark, and my heart started beating faster. My skin chilled as I broke out in a sweat. I didn't want to go down there, but I took another step anyway. I could almost feel the darkness on my skin as I took another step down. And another. And...