Character Profile: Nicole Deerfoot Black

   For this week’s blog, I thought I’d provide a little background on the character readers of The Draculata Nest seemed to be most fond of, Nicole. I have to admit, she’s my favorite character, too. She’s so down-to-earth and real to me, the kind of person I like to have as a friend. Following is an excerpt from the soon-to-be-published Dragon of Doughton Park, which illustrates my point…

“Wait. Hold on, Nicole, just calm down. I’m on my way home, and if you want to talk, let’s sit down and talk. I… I’m more ready now. Um, you want to meet somewhere, get something to eat?”

“I don’t know. How close are you?”

“Pretty close. Maybe five or ten minutes?”

“Just come on home, then. I need to pee.”

“Okay. I’ll hurry.” Chuckling, he closed off the link.

Nicole was standing by her car when he pulled into the parking lot. She wandered over to his truck as he cut the engine. He couldn’t resist the urge to tease her, so he made a pretense of cleaning the trash out the cab, slowly.

Nicole shifted from one foot to the other. “You need some help?”

“Nah, I got it.” He paused to stretch and yawn. “Nice day, isn’t it?”

She stepped forward and punched his arm. “Cut it out, now.”

“Ow, what was that for?” He rubbed his arm, feigning injury.

“You know damn well.” She held out her hand. “Give me the keys, and you can take all the time you want.”

“Oooh, yeah, I forgot. You have to…”

“Sure you did,” she fidgeted. “Come on, hand ‘em over.”

He dropped the keys into her palm. “Okay, okay.” He rubbed his arm again. “You know, that really hurt.”

“Serves you right.” She turned and strode toward the apartment, calling over her shoulder. “Take your time. I’ll be inside.”

   Nicole hails from Troy, N.C. Unbeknownst to her, the community she grew up in was populated by the werewolves of the Uwharrie Pack. She’s actually related to Claire Deerfoot, the first Omega wolf, on her mother’s side.

   Nicole fell in with the wrong crowd in her early teens, got involved with drugs, and ran away from home when she was fourteen. Not much is known of the next few years of her life until she turned up at a battered women’s shelter in Tampa, FL, when she was seventeen. From there she returned to Charlotte, NC, where she received treatment for her drug addiction, earned her GED, and eventually entered a collegiate program of study to become a substance abuse counselor. It was in college she met Clifford Crane, the Red Wolf of Prophecy. The rest you know... well, at least if you've read the book.
   Until next time...