Tag: cop

A promotion opportunity… #ROW80 and #WIPpetWednesday

Good morning, world! As my crazy week continues into day eleven of no time off, I’ve decided to take half days. Meaning, I’m home by noon and napping by three and awake again by five. It kills any extra writing time I would get in the afternoons, but three hour naps are often awesome. Then I go back to work in the evenings for some meetings I’m not happy about having (mostly because I want time off, not their content).

Anyway, I am getting some stuff done in the mornings for the most part. Here’s my ROW80 update.

  • write 1667 words a day
    • Sunday — 0
    • Monday — 0
    • Tuesday — 2291
  • Blog posts each week:ROW80,WIPpet, Open When, and 1 extra post
    • I have a post scheduled for every single day this week. All 7 days of them. I’ve started a new blog series that’ll last around ten weeks about the broken taboos I write.
  • Audio: Record/Edit a chapter a week
    • My speakers blew out in my brand new computer that is just barely a month old. So no…I haven’t done this yet, and I’m not sure when I’ll get to it at this point.

 

Onto WIPpet Wednesday. I’m still hard at work on Grace through Redemption. I have to say, it’s very weird to be working on book 3 when book 2 isn’t out yet. It comes out in June, and we’re working on final edits for it. But still weird. Luckily, there’s loads of non-spoilery information and chunks for me to choose from. This is from a chapter called “Tricks and Pranks.” I think it’s about time Grace move forward in her own little world.

OH! I wrote a short story earlier this year, and I might turn it into a novel. Or at least use that to build a novel, and if I do that, Grace might back a reappearance in it. That’d be pretty kick ass. I still have to write it and get a main character set up, but thus far I think I’ve got the plot figured out. =P

Here are 19 paragraphs (short because it’s pretty much all one line dialogue) from Tricks and Pranks in Grace through Redemption. 19 because 14 + 5 = 19 x 1 = 19 x 1= 19 + (2 x 0) = 19

“Halling.”

“Captain,” she responded with malice in her tone.

“Statement?”

She ran through the events quickly, adding at the end that everything else would be in her report. He took down the basic facts in his tiny notebook and then nodded to her when she finished. Grace felt relief and was about to jump back into her cruiser to finish out what was left of her shift. Hopefully no more calls came in.

“Halling,” he said again, his gaze piercing her.

“Yes, sir.”

“Have you thought about becoming a detective?”

Grace’s brows furrowed, and she narrowed her eyes at him, giving him a disbelieving look. “No, sir. I haven’t.”

“You’ve been a patrol officer for ten years now.”

“I have.”

“And you’ve never thought about it?”

Grace scoffed and shook her head. “I’ve thought about it. Sure. Who hasn’t? But it’s not something I ever thought about pursuing. At least not yet.”

“Well, think about it some more and apply for the positions when they open up. We’re moving people around in departments and have retirements coming up. Your name has been tossed around as a good fit.”

“It—what?”

“Your name has been brought to our attention.”

“For a detective?”

“Yes.”

Grace let out a breath and looked up at him, her eyes wide and her mind racing. She wasn’t sure what to say. She’d honestly never thought she would make a good detective, but with Amya in her life perhaps it would be a good idea to take a position that wasn’t as much on the front-lines as she was.

“I’ll think about it,” Grace answered, finally.

If you’d like to join in WIPpet Wednesday, feel free! Just share a post with a snippet from your WIP (Work in Progress) that somehow relates to the date. Use simple math or get creative with it. Then go here and link it up with the rest. Make sure you reciprocate comments!

So little to choose from … #ROW80 and #WIPeptWednesday

I haven’t been doing much writing lately. I think it’s because of my mood and because I’m not quite sure what I want to work on. I’ve been struggling to schedule my time better these past few weeks, and I fear I’ve been doing a crappy job at it. I should be done with copy-edits by the end of this week, which will help tremendously. I only have 100 pages left on one. The other one I was doing got canceled, so that opens up free time for me.

My issue is what to work on. There is a short story submission I’m interested in writing for and I have 3 novels to write for release in 2016. But which one to work on first? ::bites nails::

See my problem? Oh well…back to editing I go I guess.

Here’s my ROW80 update:

1. Write 1667 words a day.

This is not so much going on. I wrote about 1400 words one day the second half of last week on a new short story, but I’m not so sure how much I like it. It might end up scrapped.

2. keep up with all blog posts ROW80, WIPpet, Open When and add in 1 extra post a week

This is going well. Didn’t do Open When last Saturday for personal reasons not because I forgot. But…hopefully this weekend!

3. Edit at least one chapter a week on something.

Definitely did this. Edited a few chapters of my own. Two chapters for this copy-edit. A few chapters for a beta read. A few sermons in there.

4. crochet one round of border a week

Done! One more round to go and I will be done with the afghan. At least the crocheting part. Still have to clean it up and wash it. =P

 

Now for my WIPpet. See issue above. I’m not sure what to pull from. I haven’t written anymore on Grace through Redemption since we last spoke (=P), so I’m not quite sure what to share from. I’ve been thinking a lot about this short story I wrote a bit ago that I want to transform into a novel…and just the characters in the piece and how to go about that.

While I’m decided what to post for this snippet…I’ll announce that I’ll get to everyone tomorrow. My mom flies in Friday and tonight is date night and work day with no internet at the office. I will actually make an effort to get to everyone too, unlike what I have been doing these past few weeks. ::has been lazy and busy and guilt for not doing it::

Okay…I’ve been staring at this for 45 minutes now trying to figure out what the hell to post. Here’s the last bit from the first chapter of Grace through Redemption. Something of which I really need to get my ass in gear on and write. She’s still dealing with the punk kid drug dealer from last week. You get 8 paragraphs because 1 + 7 = 8

Counting through the cash and looking at the drugs, all neatly packaged for distribution, Grace checked on Cole periodically. Once she had everything straight in her head, she turned back to him with a hand on her hip.

“Care to tell me, again, what you were doing here?”

“Lawyer.”

“Yeah, I bet.”

She put him in the back seat of the cruiser, gathered his items and put it into a bag. She took her time getting everything ready. She tested a bit of the drugs, making sure it was cocaine like she thought it was before storing the test, drugs and his personal items in her trunk.

Slipping through the slush and finally feeling the cold in her sock, Grace walked to the front of her cruiser and opened the door. When she got back into the warmth of her cruiser, she looked at Jules and nodded. “He didn’t have a gun on him this time, but the last time I arrested him he did.”

“The last time?”

“Repeat offender,” Grace muttered and stuck her car in drive.

If you feel compelled to join in WIPpet Wednesday, then by all means, join in! Post an excerpt from your current WIP (Work In Progress) that somehow correlates to the date. Feel free to get creative with the math. Then link it up here and check out some other great pieces!

Cover Reveal: Flames of Redemption by Fallon Brown! #authorcorner #romance

I’m so excited to share this cover with you all today! Fallon is a fellow WIPpeteer, and I’ve been seeing sneak previews and snippets from her books for awhile. I can’t wait for you all to get your hands on this one!

FlamesofRedemptionSmallerWebUse

Title: Flames of Redemption

Cover Design: Marianne Nowicki @ Premadeebookcovershop.com

Release: January 2015

 1d596-goodreads-badge-add-plus

Summary:

Kayla Brooke has firefighting in her blood. She followed her father’s footsteps into the Crystal Glen Fire Department, but when she shows an interest in the whys, she moves into her uncle’s path; fire investigation. Fighting the flames has cost her: a man she thought she’d loved and friends taken by the flames that call to her. After her fiance walked out on her because he could handle what she was, she never expected another man to light a different kind of fire in her blood. Until Adrian Riley ran into her life.

Adrian Riley came from a family of cops, but he decided to start over in a town where no one knows his family. Now, on the fast track to promotion, he thinks this new case could be the key to proving himself. Then, he butts heads with a hotheaded firefighter on the scene, and his whole world turns upside down. She could be the key to everything, or the one weakness that could take him down.

They fight the sparks that threaten to burn them both. But, once they light, there’s no stopping the blaze. Kayla’s been burned before, but this time the flames may consume her. When more fires start, they know it’s more than a simple case. But, when the arsonist seems to have turned his attention to Kayla, Adrian will do everything within his power to keep her safe, even stand between her and the fire.

 

Excerpt 1:

When she stepped outside, though, the cop was still there. She couldn’t see his face as he leaned over the railing of the porch, but she still recognized him. The lines of his back were as strong as his front even with his coat on. Maybe it was a good thing that he reminded her of a fighter. He’d fight for this family, for Josh, if it did turn out to be arson.

Something about his posture now was different than when he’d been inside. The bowed back, his head hanging down. He couldn’t have been hurt in the time it took to walk out here, but she knew not all pain was physical. She was sure of it when a shudder passed over his body. What was wrong with him? She hadn’t gotten the impression he had known Josh. He hadn’t seemed affected inside.

She took a step toward him but backed away again when he spun toward her. His hand reached toward his side, where he was probably used to wearing a shoulder holster. He wouldn’t carry a gun to a funeral home though, would he? His jacket lifted, revealing the badge on his belt.

She held her hands up and worked up a smile. “I come in peace.”

He relaxed a bit, but something still held him rigid. The pain was evident in those hard blue eyes. “You’re one of Josh Nunley’s colleagues.”

His voice put her on edge. Her own back stiffened. “One of his sisters, so to speak. What are you doing here? Aren’t we allowed peace to grieve our brother’s loss?”

“I wasn’t trying to get in the way,” he said. “In fact, I tried to be as unobtrusive as possible. I’ve lost colleagues in the line of duty before. I understand. But I still have a job to do. I would think you’d want me to find who is responsible for your friend’s death.”

 

Excerpt 2:

Yet he found he wanted to take care of her. Not like she would allow it. Still, he reached out and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. She looked shocked by the gesture. “How much sleep have you gotten?” he asked.

She stepped back from him, bringing her own fingers to touch the lock of hair. “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “I can still do the job.”

“I never said you couldn’t.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Look, I don’t really know what your problem is with me. The only thing I’ve tried to do so far is my job. Are you really going to hold that against me?”

“Your job sucks, then. Coming to question us when we’re grieving for our friend. Crashing his funeral. We should be able to have those moments.”

“I didn’t question any of you. I was only there observing. Watching for some suspicious behavior. Anything that might give me a clue to who did this.”

“You think that’s so much better? What, do you think one of us did it?”

He kept silent at that accusation, not quite sure what to say to her. She apparently took it as confirmation. “You do, damn it.” She held her hands out in front of her. “Well, why don’t you arrest me now, Detective, if you think I’m guilty.”

“I never said you were guilty, or that I even thought that.” His voice was low, the calmness not matching the turmoil he felt. No, the anger boiled in his veins.

 

Author Bio:

Fallon Brown was born and raised in a tiny town in the northwestern corner of Pennsylvania. At one time, she dreamed of having a cabin in the woods or mountains where she could be left alone to write. Instead she spent three years studying psychology before realizing that wasn’t for her. She now lives outside of a slightly larger small town in the same corner of her home state with her husband, two children, dog, and cat.

She spends her days interfering in the lives of fictional characters while trying to keep a semblance of a clean house. Often the clean house bit fails. She published her first novel, Duty to Protect, in April of 2014, and with all the characters crowding in her head, there is more to come.

You can find her around the online world at:

Blog: https://fallonbrownwrites.wordpress.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/frbrown906

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fallon-Brown/110648795680839?ref=bookmarks

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8137139.Fallon_Brown

Failures and Successes #WIPpetWednesday & #ROW80

Well here I am on another Wednesday, and this one is filled with failures and with successes. Most of that will come out in my ROW80 post, so I guess I’ll do it first.

Basically, what happened, was I took too much on at once and something had to give. I was trying to keep up at it all and failing miserably at doing that. So I gave on writing. It’s something I can afford to give on right now, so that’s what did it. I’ve had 3 copy edits this whole month. Luckily I finished the first half of one, but that left the other two still in progress. Likewise, it’s NaNoWriMo … and I got copy-edits back on my own novel. So all in all…here’s a list of projects I’ve been somewhat working on this entire month.

Writing Memoir in the Making
Editing Memoir in the Making
Writing Grace through Redemption
Editing my novel Fallen from Grace
Editing Mara White’s book The Delivery
Editing Jasmine Lee’s book Ella’s Love
Editing S. K. Hart’s book Spellbound

That’s on top of my regular job…which has been pretty unbusy these past couple of weeks. *knock on wood*

Since I didn’t post my update on Sunday…you’ll get a full week’s update in this one singular awesome update.

1. Write 1667 words a day.

Wed: 2084
Thurs: 1974
Fri: 0
Sat: 0
Sun: 0
Mon: 0
Tues: 0

2. keep up with all blog posts ROW80, WIPpet, Open When and add in 1 extra post a week

I have not kept up with any posts this past week. In fact…I wasn’t even able to make up the post from the week before. The only post I’ve done thus far this week, is this one. *sigh* I’ll have to fix that, but I’m thinking next week.

3. Edit at least one chapter a week on something. Will start with Unbound and a copy-edit I have due this month.

HERE! The one place progress has been made!

Editing Memoir in the Making — finished all 25 chapters first round on this and 2 chapters 2nd round. Goal is to get this to the publisher by Dec 1st for a late spring release…
Editing Jasmine Lee’s book Ella’s Love — Finally making good progress on this. I hit halfway on page count and up to chapter 10 (there’s 23 chapters). I hope to have this done and finished by Thursday
Editing S. K. Hart’s book Spellbound — Finished chapters 8-10 yesterday and sent this section back to the author

4. crochet one round of border a week

Still not done. Maybe tomorrow when there’s no work!

As you can see…not a lot of progress but loads of progress in one area. As I said on Facebook today, something had to give. It was writing because it was the easiest one to give up on for a bit. It was unnecessary. Editing is part of my paid work, so it needed to happen. I’m hoping to go back into editing today or tomorrow depending on how much editing I get done on Ella’s Love. If I hit my 5 chapter minimum a day before three, I’ll definitely try to spend some time writing tonight. If not–I’ll focus on editing.

I may not have been writing much this past week, but I have been doing writing work. And that’s just as important.

Now…onto WIPpet Wednesday.

This is where it gets interesting. What to draw on, since I haven’t written and have spent countless hours in editing my own work. I’ve decided…. =P

You’ll be getting an excerpt from Grace through Redemption today. This is from the first chapter, Of Thieves and Visionaries. Grace is stuck dragging around this medium because the detectives she was with got way too annoyed with her. They stuck this medium, Jules, with Grace for the day, and Grace is beyond unhappy about it. Especially with the way certain conversations go.

Today you get 11 sentences from the first chapter of Grace through Redemption. WIPpet Wednesday is open to all who are interested. If you want to join in, create a blog post with a snippet from your WIP (Work in Progress). The only rule is that your snippet must be related to the date somehow, and feel free to get creative with the math! Here we go…context, Grace stuck in a cruiser with someone she really doesn’t want to be stuck with.

“I like you, Grace.”

Groaning, Grace ignored her.

“We should go on a date sometime,” Jules said, her eyes wide when Grace looked back over at her.

“I think not,” Grace answered sharply. “I’m not into dating.”

“Not into dating in general or not into dating people like me?”

“Well, now that you ask,” Grace said. “I’m already dating someone. So unavailable.”

Jules hummed and closed her eyes. “Not dating for long.”

What does that even mean? Not dating for long? This is a medium, a psychic, a person who predicts things…hmmmm….

If you want to join in, create your post and check out all the other lovely posts here.

A new project… #WIPpetWednesday & #ROW80

Well, since I finished my NaNo novel last Wednesday evening, that means I need a new project. I decided to take a break from writing for a few days and came into a conundrum. I had no idea which book to start working on. I have three books in edits, one of those has a sequel, so I could write it. Or I could write the last book in my cop series. Or I could write a companion piece to it. OR I could write a whole new piece with a whole new world.

Since my cop series is the only one I technically “have” to write, I went for that one. So that means back to the world of Grace. If I write about 2,000 words a day, I should be able to finish this novel before the start of the new year (writing wise anyway) which means maybe, just maybe, my publisher will bump up its anticipated release date. =D

Anyway, in non-writing/editing news, I get to go to Fort Worth in February for a visit! It’s so exciting and I can’t contain it. I haven’t been back there since I moved in July. And I get to go to Columbus, OH in July next year where I’ll hopefully get to meet some awesome WIPpeteers that I’ve know for awhile.

So here we go…

ROW80 first.

1. Write 1667 words a day.

Sunday: 0
Monday 0
Tuesday: 2583

2. keep up with all blog posts ROW80, WIPpet, Open When and add in 1 extra post a week

Haven’t done this yet, and I haven’t made up for the Open When post I missed last week.

3. Edit at least one chapter a week on something.

I have definitely been keeping up with this. Since Sunday I’ve done 5 chapters for Jasmine Lee on her copy-edit. I’ve done 1 chapter for S. K. Hart on her copy-edit. I… started a chapter for me! Yay! I need to figure out how to get in some of my own editing time since I have 3 novels in the process of it right now.

4. crochet one round of border a week

Have no done this and really need to do it. My guess is I’ll cram it in after NaNo is over and these copy-edits are over. I just don’t have time to think about doing it right now.

Now… for WIPpet Wednesday

As I said before, I finally decided to write Grace through Redemption, the last book in the Spirit of Grace series. I have absolutely no plan going into this novel and that is a scary, scary thing for me, so hopefully after I do some writing and working today, I’ll be able to outline a bit of it.

All are welcome to join in WIPpet Wednesday. If you want to join in, just create a blog post with a snippet from your WIP (Work in Progress). The ONLY rule is that you correlate your snippet with the date somehow. Then go on over here and link up with everyone else. If you get a chance, check out some of the other writers and leave them a comment–we’re all not-so-secretly comment whores.

For today, you get 21 sentences straight from the Prologue of Grace through Redemption. my math is simply. 19 + 1 + 1 = 21.

Grace grabbed the railings on the treadmill briefly to steady herself before sprinting and focusing on running once more. It wasn’t the first time Amya had distracted her from something, and Grace knew it certainly wouldn’t be the last time. She hunched her shoulders and increased the speed again for the last two minutes of her run, knowing if Amya could see the speed she had set on her machine she would get yelled at.

Closing her eyes and focusing only on how her feet landed and each breath she took, Grace charged toward the end of her workout. Her hair flung around behind her, wisps of it getting into her face as she movement forced strands of hair out of her loose pony. Amya wouldn’t have that issue. Grace sneered and looked up.

Two yellow lights barreled toward her. She didn’t have time. The car sped so fast she wasn’t surprised when the front windows buckled. Grace dropped to the floor and rolled to the side, not catching her breath as she was showered with glass and metal. Dust settled around the gym when she heard the wheel spinning on the carpet.

Pushing herself up, Grace’s ears rang. She crawled on her hands and feet in the direction of where Amya had been and couldn’t keep up with her still racing heart. The pounding was so heavy she couldn’t concentrate on anything other than finding Amya.

She found her leg first. Grace gripped Amya’s ankle and followed it up her body until her face was only a few inches from Amya’s lips. “Amya—you okay?”

Amya nodded and lifted a hand to Grace’s cheek. “Yeah, fine. What happened?”

“Car—straight into the gym.”

And there you have it! Please join in WIPpet fun. It’s loads of interesting smashed into greatness.

#WIPpet Wednesday and a #ROW80 update

I’m clearly creative in coming up with blog titles. =P I’m finally getting settled into the house in Kansas, well as much as I can get settled. They’re renovating half of the house, everything upstairs, so I’m living in the basement. Makes it very interesting. I haven’t had plumbing to a toilet in two days! But the plumber is supposedly coming to do to finish up and they can start on the upstairs bathroom.

Anyway…enough about my toilets. Because that’s not awkward at all.

I do finally have wifi and cable at my house as of Tuesday, so updating for ROW80 should be a breeze from now on. I’m going to do my ROW80 update first this week.

1. Fallen from Grace: write 1 chapter a week (moving week excluded)
2. Promo: Answer three interview questions a day until done
3. Promo: Write out a guest post a week until done
4. Lovely, Dark, and Deep short story needs to be written/plotted 2k a day due Aug 31st
5. Paranormal Romance short story 2k/day due Aug 9th

1. I finished chapter 9 “Probation Station” and I am hoping to finish chapter 10 “Kiss of Betrayal” by Friday…
2. Completed this yesterday!
3. Completed this yesterday!
4. Don’t know if this is going to happen at all…now that promo is done, I can start thinking about it.
5. We’re going to start writing on this today, assuming we don’t forget again like we did the last time! Wed, Thurs, and Fri. So hopefully the first draft will be done by Friday!

Now…for WIPpet.

If you don’t know what WIPpet is, it’s really simple. A WIPpet is a snippet from your WIP (Work In Progress). The snippet correlates to the date in some way, shape or form!

This week is an excerpt from the chapter I’m currently writing in Fallen from Grace. Chapter is called Probation Station. Math is difficult–

7 + 23 = 30 +20 = 50 – (4 – 1)= 47

You get 47 words from chapter 9! I’m debating on context or not…so I’ll leave it off and if it gets confusing I’ll put it in a comment somewhere. =P

She cleaned her face with her hands, headed to the bathroom to throw cold water on her face before sitting down in the break room and staring at the food in front of her. Her appetite had gone out the door along with her pride and sanity.

And that’s a wrap folks!

 

#WIPpet and #ROW80 ayup…it’s July 16, 2014

Hey all.

Yes, I know I didn’t do ROW80 on Sunday. Alls fair, I was in a house with no internet at all, and it would not have been pretty if I’d done the update on my phone.

I’ll do my ROW80 update first, since it’s easy. I’ve done nothing. All of this….

1. Fallen from Grace: write 1 chapter a week (moving week excluded)
2. Promo: Answer three interview questions a day until done
3. Promo: Write out a guest post a week until done
4. Lovely, Dark, and Deep short story needs to be written/plotted 2k a day due Aug 31st
5. Paranormal Romance short story 2k/day due Aug 9th

…and nothing. It’s moving week, so I feel I’m excluded from keeping up with my goals (since that was intended when I created the goals). I’m still packing, and packing, and packing. I just had a quick trip up to Montana, and now I’m moving on Friday. So…more packing. Yup…that’s my ROW80 update.

Now…onto WIPpet

I do have something for WIPpet.

You get 12 sentences following (kind of) what you saw last week from Fallen from Grace. Grace is still at the hoarders house. There’s a bit in between, but you should be able to follow.

My math? 16-6 = 9 + 4 = 13 – 1 = 12 simple…right? Uh huh… so here we go…

She was just about to walk back in when Toulouse arrived on the scene. Grace changed her direction and headed toward his cruiser. Waiting until he was parked and out of the vehicle, she ran down what she knew.

“Animal Control called us out to assist in a seizure warrant. The owner is known to be violent.”

“You smell like horse shit, Halling.”

“No, sir. I smell like cat shit and piss,” she answered without stopping. She continued, “I found the owner in the second bedroom on the ground. He’s half eaten from the cats, no doubt hungry since they weren’t being fed. His body is cold and stiff. They’re sending someone out.”

Toulouse pinched his nose and shook his head at her. “Really, Halling. You have shit all over your face and in your hair.”

“I’m well aware. Owner is Barry Glowner. The info we have on him says he’s sixty-three years old, lives here by himself, and keeps to himself. Hinds was getting contact information for his daughter last I checked.”

“Go home,” Toulouse said.

“Sir?”

“Go home. Take a shower, or two, or three. Then get a clean uniform and make sure you wash that one a dozen times. Then come back to finish out your shift. I’ll expect your report by end of day tomorrow.”

Grace sighed. She looked at her cruiser and felt the pull of a hot shower to clean up. She felt torn in two directions. One way was the nice hot shower and gallon of soap she desperately wanted. The other way was back to the house to capture the rest of the cats. Grace licked her lips, immediately regretted it and stared up at her curly haired Sergeant.

“I think I’ll stick around and help them out for a bit. I’m already all nastified anyway. What could it hurt?”

Toulouse gave her a nod, and Grace headed back toward the house and dead owner.

WIPpet Wednesday!! July 18, 2014

Hey all! I can finally announce my big news! I know a lot of you saw it on Facebook already, but not everyone is over there. I’ll be moving to an itty bitty town in the middle of nowhere Kansas come the middle of July. I’ve got a real big-girl job that starts on July 21! I can’t wait for it. I’m so crazy excited to finally be working in my field.

So in the midst of packing, I have a release coming up and a novel to finish editing and another novel to finish writing. I’m a bit cray cray; it’s okay.

I also wanted to share some other good news.

On June 1, my newest series was released…well book 1 anyway. Now, I don’t normally check rankings or reviews because let’s face it…the likelihood I’ll get a review a week is slim to none. BUT! I was turned on to checking my rankings, which I don’t normally do because I don’t want to know how bad my book is doing. Well…I’ve been checking them recently. Just once a day because I don’t want to become addicted to it. Anyway, I’ll stop rambling.

For by Grace has been in the top 26 of the Gay and Lesbian genre on Amazon since it’s release 18 days ago. Talk about ridiculous. I’m not sure what to do about it other than squee and tell everyone I know, so that’s why you’ve had to suffer through this rambling. It’s given me a lot of motivation to try and finish writing book 2 by the end of July/middle of August (I’m about halfway done with it) and maybe, just maybe, get it out in December.

Anyway! Onto WIPpet Wednesday now that I’m done rambling…

This week my post is still from Fallen from Grace (you know, that one book I want to finish writing soon). This is still coming off from last week; there’s a missing section you don’t get, but it shouldn’t be too jarring to skip it. My math is simple. 17 short paragraphs. 18 – 1 from the year = 17.

Here we go…

            Turning around to stare at him, Grace gave him a hard look. Maybe staring and glaring would work. If it did, then she would have her answers soon. Grace gave up after fifteen seconds of staring.

“What’s your name?”

The man didn’t reply. He didn’t move or do anything other than look back at her.

“Name! What’s your name?” She tried again, shouting louder this time.

Her frustration grew to its topmost levels when he still didn’t reply. There was a group of gawkers that were still watching the cruiser, all staring and pointing at her. Grace had had it with the clown and turned around to face the front of the car. She hit her lights and started toward the jail, making sure to follow protocol. Perhaps one of the corrections officers would have better luck getting him to talk to she did.

The entire ride was in complete silence. Grace pulled up at the jail and shut the car off. She didn’t want to go inside, fearing that Amya might be in there somewhere—it was after all her day to be there. She took a deep breath and stepped outside after closing the lid to the computer in the passenger seat. She opened the back door of the cruiser and helped the clown out, grabbing his wig as an after-thought.

Grace started to march him toward the door, but as soon as she got three steps in, the clown started resisting like a lost puppy on a leash for the first time. He wiggled and backed up, putting all of his dead weight into it so that she was practically carrying him each step. After five minutes of struggling and making it only another five feet, she gave up.

Planting her feet on the ground and glaring again at him, she walked him back to the car—a direction he was willing to go—and pushed him onto the cruiser. She gave him another pat down and then stood him up, looking him up and down.

“What’s wrong?”

The man shook his head.

“What is wrong?”

Again he shook his head.

“What’s your name?”

He shook his head and opened his mouth, a bumble of sounds and noises coming out. Grace stepped back and narrowed her eyes, realizing for the first time that the man couldn’t hear her. He was completely and totally deaf. He hadn’t even had enough hearing to learn how to speak. Grace bit her lip and shook her head.

Technically, she wasn’t supposed to handcuff him. However, since he had been fighting with her and resisting arrest, she had been allowed to, but there was no way to communicate with him without his hands. Grace took a chance.

She grabbed the notepad out of her pocket and the pen, setting it onto the trunk of the car. She unlocked the man’s hands and nodded at the notepad. He reached for it slowly and carefully, scrawling on it quickly before setting it back down. Grace looked over and saw a first name written in messy handwriting on the white paper.

She felt so stupid—if only she’d paid more attention to the few times she’d seen Crystal teach her kids the alphabet. Grace grabbed the pen and paper and wrote down what was going to happen to him next before she put the handcuffs back on one of his hands and lead him into booking.

WIPpet Wednesday! June 11, 2014

Hey all! Sorry I wasn’t hear last week. I was still catching up with this after being out of town for a weekend and in my last week of work at Job 1. Now I just have Job 2, Job 3 (editing), and Job 4 (writing) to worry about, which means! yes, which means! That I should be able to finally focus more on editing and writing. Yay!

I’m still not ready to make my announcement. I’d hoped I was, but I’m not. There’s been some issues with it that need to be resolved and so I’m stuck in yet another waiting period that can easily last two weeks. This is a personal announcement, not a book announcement. However, I am pushing my luck on the timeline with the books stuff too. I think I need to start staying up really late and getting up really early to get this all done.

Anyway, back on topic! I decided to give you all another excerpt from Fallen from Grace, the second book in the Spirit of Grace Series. This follows my new released book, which apparently is selling like hotcakes! w00t! This also follows immediately the clown at McDonalds that I gave you all awhile back. If you forgot it, you can go HERE to read the excerpt.

If you would like to participate in WIPpet Wednesday, all you have to do is create a blog post with an excerpt from your current WIP (Work In Progress). The excerpt should in some way correlate with the date. Then you go to this awesome linky here and link your post up with all the others. It’s just that simple. Oh! And it’d be nice if you visited other posts as well and commented.

So here we go to my post. You get 7 short paragraphs today. 6 for the month and 1 for good luck since it’s my birthday month. I almost posted the end part with Grace and this character…but this part is so much fun! Yet…so is the end part. Anyway…here you go.

She pulled into the parking lot and looked around for the suspect and saw no one. Instead, she saw a group of kids standing on the sidewalk across the road, staring at something. Grace parked the cruiser and got out, shuffling over to the kids. She cocked her head at them and wondered why they were out of school before she turned to look in their direction.

Sure enough, a man in bright red pants, a blue polka-dotted shirt, a rainbow afro wig and shoes at least twenty-sizes too large was running down the street with a crowbar in his right hand. Grace sighed and shook her head, taking a second look at the suspect.

She bit her lip and glanced at the kids before starting to run after the runaway clown. Grace’s boots pounded on the sidewalk as she started to catch up with the obviously inbred idiot who tried to break into a car in the middle of the daylight in a busy parking lot in a clown costume. She huffed as she sped up to catch him more quickly.

Children and parents were lining the sidewalk at the commotion. Grace had the fleeting thought that someone had sent out a mass text to everyone on the block, telling them to come out and catch a good show. She drew in a sharp breath and shook the thought as she caught up with the suspect. She was amazed at how fast the inbred idiot could run in his shoes, and the fact that he didn’t trip in them. Had that been her, it would have been no contest.

Grace widened her arms and lunged at the inbred idiot, smashing into his back and tackling him to the ground. A whoosh of air escaped her lungs as they crashed down onto the ground and his giant shoe pushed up into her chest. She coughed as the moment settled in. The clown didn’t resist at first, and Grace was worried she had somehow managed to knock him unconscious.

She lifted her body gently and started to put cuffs over his wrists. She had one locked in place when the sound caught her ears. Grace looked over her shoulder, as the inbred didn’t seem to be moving, and saw the street lined with children who were booing her. Her heart was pounding hard from the chase, but her cheeks flamed red as she realized why exactly they were booing her.

She had tackled a clown. She had chased him down the street, two and a half blocks, and did a running tackle into his back, landing on top of him and arresting him. She could tell the kids did not want her to arrest the clown by their booing and shouting. Grace licked her lips and looked down at her hand still circling the inbred’s other hand. She had to do it—the idiot had broken into a car in broad daylight.

Holla! It’s WIPpet Wednesday!

Hey all! It’s a crazy busy time of life for me right now. I’ll share more next week (hopefully). I’m still not ready to give out that part of the news yet. However, I’m leaving this weekend for a mini-trip that might be a make it or break it trip (again, more later), so that means getting to WIPpeteers this week is going to be difficult. I’m going to do something I hate doing. I’m only going to go to your blog if you go to mine first. *hides* I also probably won’t get to your posts until Tuesday of next week, so if I don’t show up right away, that’s why.

Now, onto WIPpeteering!

Today you get the opening of “Flirtatious Jive” another Amya short that I’m sort of working on. This would be the first in the series of shorts and happens close to the beginning of the book. You get 5 sentences for the month of May.

She’d kissed her on a whim. Amya’s heart had beaten so fast and her head spun from the alcohol. Everything in the moment was set and perfect. They had been at the bar, listening to a band that would never make it, and Amya couldn’t stop thinking about it. She had to do it. Three beers down, in each of them, and she was feeling really good.

And there it is folks! Don’t forget the Sunday is the release of For by Grace! The book that all these awesome little shorts are based off. =P I’m so excited for this release. Got a party going on that Monday and everything. It’s so crazy exciting!!

If you would like to join in WIPpeteering, feel free. Just post an excerpt of your current WIP (work in progress) that somehow correlates to the date. Then all you gotta do is link it up with the rest!

Fallen from Editing…=P WIPpet Wednesday! April 30, 2014

I have finished edits. I’m officially done with editing my own stuff for at least a month. Ashes Fall has been sent to the publisher, and I’m awaiting more edits back from her. I have taken on a new project, editing for a debut author. I’ll let you all know how that goes, but the prologue and first chapter were quite interesting so far.

Life has been crazy and amazing this week.

1. Sunday I emailed Ashes Fall to the publisher after FINALLY finishing my edits (she’ll get mad at me for using the word finally if she reads this, watch).

2. Thursday I started my new job working with low income kids in a free after school program.

3. Monday I wrote a 15 page paper, did the research that morning too, on the myth of redemptive suffering (that suffering is good, brings us closer to God and thus God gives us suffering) and sexual violence. Intense but awesome paper. I turned it in.

4. With the turning in of that paper, I’m done with my graduate school program! So graduation is set for May 9th, and I’m officially on the lookout for a real full-time job!

This is why I have had no time.

But now I do have time! Since my life is calming down, I finally get to write again. It’s been so long! (Since November, actually.) I have two novels that are in progress right now. The sequel to For by Grace (TBR June 1) which is titled Fallen from Grace. And a new series called Quarter Life. The first novel is titled Bound. This is Emma’s story if you remember it.

I’ve chosen to finish Fallen from Grace first, since 1. it’s a little bit more than halfway done, and 2. I actually have a publisher for it. I’m in the debate right now as to whether or not to submit Quarter Life: Unbound to a new publisher or not. If you have an opinion on this, please feel free to weigh in. I already know why I would be doing it, if I did it.

There’s still time to sign up for the cover reveal of Across Worlds: Collision on June 14th (Saturday). The more people the better to get this debut novel out there for more eyes to see. Follow this little linky here to see the blurb and possibly sign up. You just need any type of platform for it: Facebook, twitter, tumblr, google+, blog etc.

Tomorrow the cover reveal happens for For by Grace…I’m trying very, very hard NOT to post it before then. I find that as each day passes, the more I want to post it before the scheduled date. Go figure because that makes no sense in my head.

I think I’m done rambling for now.

As for WIPpet…I’m going back to Fallen from Grace. I’m at about 50k words for a 90k word novel. This is a COPS style crime/mystery.

Today you get 7 short paragraphs from Fallen from Grace, title called Gathering the Disciples. This involves one of my favorite characters I have EVER written. The last part of this excerpt is for Amy–she’ll know why. Peter has been on a ride along with Grace the entire night; he’s a 19 year old recovery alcoholic who just started back to school. Grace is the one who had a major impact on him going into recovery. They have a very complicated relationship. Peter and Grace are just finishing up the ride along, talking about Grace when she was younger.

My math, you ask? 14 (for the year) / 2 (for the year) = 7

“You know,” she started. “When I went on my first ride along, we got shot at.”

“Really?”

“Yup. Daniel Mason Brady, one of the best and kindest people I have ever known, took me on my first ride along. I was nineteen.” She smiled at Peter, remembering his age was the same. “We went to a car chase call that had ended by the time we’d gotten there. But the asshole had holed himself up in someone’s house. He’d just walked right in their front door.”

“Oh my God.”

“Yeah. No kidding. Freaked them out, I’m sure. Anyway, he walked into their house, threatened them with a gun and then killed the dad. He then barricaded himself. While he was in there, he shot out the living room window and managed to hit the windshield of the car Daniel and I were sitting in. The bullets didn’t come through the glass, but it scared the crap out of me.”

“Literally?”

“No,” she said and chuckled. “Not literally, but it was really close.”

If you would like to join in WIPpet Wednesday’s it’s open to all. Create a post with you current WIP (work in progress) that somehow correlates to the date. Feel free to get VERY crazy with your math. Then link it up with the rest of us crazies and go on and read!

WIPpet Wednesday!!! March 26, 2014

I’m back!!!!! So sorry I didn’t comment on anything the last time. I was overwhelmed and stressed with a lot of things and had to give multiple things up in order to just make it through. Unfortunately, blogging was one of those things and rather abruptly one of them. But I’m back! And I’m going to be around for a bit! At least in theory.

I’m not writing anything new right now, but it’s definitely coming back to me. I’m feeling the urge to write *starts singing the “I’ve got the urge” from Herbal Essences commercials*. I just have to finish editing some things first. I have three novels coming out this year. Holy Crapola!! I probably won’t have that many next year, due to my lack of writing already this year, but I’m aiming for at least two next year (I secretly have two books that are about 2/3 of the way to being finished…I just have to actually sit down and finish them).

For by Grace, which is the first book in my new Spirit of Grace series, comes out June 1! I’m finishing up final edits on it this week, so that’s what the WIPpet will be from. I’ll also be doing a cover reveal soon, so keep a look out for a sign up. It’s my favorite cover of all mine so far.

Ashes Fall, which is the third and final book about James Matthews, comes out September 1. I’m still in the starting edits on that, and I will be hustling along with those edits just as soon as I finish two other things. I will also be doing a cover reveal for this come…lets say July.

Across Worlds: Collision, a standalone with a co-writer comes out sometime this year. We don’t have a date yet, but are awaiting final edits back from the publisher. Will also be doing a cover reveal for this! Let’s say….in June sometime.

So I’m insane, it’s official.

 

Back to WIPpet Wednesday.

For those of you who don’t know what WIPpet Wednesday is…it’s a very awesome thing. =P  I should just leave the description at that. But I won’t. It’s a place where writers get together to share some of their WIP (Work In Progress). The only hardfast rule is that the post has to in someway correlate with the date. It can be easy maths, or it can be crazy hard insane jealous (where did jealous come from? hmmm *shrugs and goes on) maths.

For example. Today’s post comes from For by Grace you get 198 words! Oh boy, crazy maths day. …

201 + 6 – 2 – 3 – 4 = 198

This excerpt comes from the chapter called “Breaking it Down” which follows an Officer Involved Shooting (OIS) Grace, the MC, was involved in. Grace is hanging out with her pseudo-girlfriend, trying to work some stuff through her thick skull–she unfortunately is not like Olaf and does have a skull and bones.

Her thumb stroked over Grace’s cheek. “You did what you were supposed to do. There is nothing that will change what you did. You cannot change it. I know it sucks, but that’s how it is.”

Grace nodded. She wiped away her tears and sniffled. “Okay. I did what I was supposed to do. There was nothing else that I could do. It happened.”

Her decision had been made; she wouldn’t second-guess herself anymore. She let the quiet permeate the room before she spoke again, not sure if Amya was still awake, but she had a feeling that the woman wouldn’t sleep until she did. Sniffling, she wiped her cheeks again.

“I miss him.”

“I know,” Amya whispered and reached for Grace’s hand. “I know, and you’re not the only one.”

Grace licked her lips and stared at the ceiling until she saw light from the window. When she turned over, Amya was still awake, watching her carefully. She kissed her softly before burying her face in Amya’s chest and letting out a deep breath. She wrapped her arms around Amya’s back, pressing as close to the other woman as possible.

She fell asleep just as the sun rose.

WIPpet Wednesday! Dec 11, 2013…

Good morning WIPpeeters and guests! I have been mostly iced in since last Thursday, and when I did venture out to work last night, I crashed my car on the way home. All is well. I’m not even sore this morning, and Emilie (my car) is only scared a little bit–more like bruised.

I’m in the midst of finals, so I have done absolutely no writing this week except for the Creative Buzz Hop. The prompt was “serenity,” and it was so much fun to write on. If you want to join in, it’s free for all.

Onward to my WIPpet this week. What is WIPpet? I can hear my guests asking this! WIPpet is an amazing thing. That is all. =P WIPpet is where those who write post their WIP (Work In Progress) on their blog that somehow correlates with the date. For example, today you will be getting 27 paragraphs from me. 25 of those are short, as this is mostly dialogue, and 2 of those are long. So it’s a quick read–I promise. I arrived at this number with some simple by intriguing math. 11 (for the day) + 12 (for the month) + 1 + 3 (for the last two numbers in the year) = 27.

To get you into this excerpt, I will provide some quick information. Peter Schultz has been around since the previous book, where Grace (Deputy Halling) discovered him drunk on more than one occasion. He’s 19, and she felt something tugging at her because of the poor kid, so instead of arresting him for public intoxication and a minor in possession, she finally ended up taking him to a rehab facility. Fast-forward to this book. Peter is trying to figure out what he wants to do when he grows up. He’s started school again and is working toward his degree once more, which he will accomplish in a few short years. He’s been hanging out with Grace’s ex, Amya, who is the Police Chaplain for the Sheriff’s Department. Grace is taking Peter out on his first ride-along so he can see what she does for a living–it also happens to be Saint Patrick’s Day.

So without further ado–27 “short” paragraphs.

“I promise—you won’t get hurt or shot at tonight. We’ll stay away from those calls.”

“That sucks,” he pouted.

Grace shook her head and turned down Montgomery, heading into her district and away from the university.

“It does not suck,” she hissed. “It’s part policy and part that I don’t wanna get shot at.”

Peter grinned and turned to her, holding out his hand palm up. Grace gave him a funny look, her brow scrunching and her nose wrinkling as she tried to figure him out. Something was off about him, but then again, she hadn’t spent much time with the kid when he was sober.

“Calm down, boss,” he started. “I just want to see what all the fuss is about in this job.”

“Why?” she asked as she turned down the road and started to drive slowly through the residential streets.

“Because I thought about being a cop once. And I thought about not being a cop. Now I know that it’s not what I want to do, but I do want to do something similar.”

“Like Amya,” Grace muttered.

Peter turned in his seat and stared at her full on, giving her a blank and surprised look. Grace caught it and turned back to face the road, following the number eight line from the last bus stop to the transit center. She wasn’t going to ask Peter what that look meant at all.

“How did you know that?” he asked for her.

Grace rolled her eyes and spun her wheel so that they could sit in the parking lot and watch the people get off the buses. Grace rolled her eyes and spun her wheel so that they could sit in the parking lot and watch the people get off the buses. She ignored him as best she could, not wanting to talk about Amya if she could avoid it. She put the car in park and started to watch each individual that got off the bus, hoping that just one of them would do something suspicious so she could avoid talking to Peter even more.

Peter would have none of it and twisted in his seat to face Grace. She ignored it for as long as she could, but by the third time he repeated his question, she felt she had to answer.

“How did you know that?”

Grace sighed. “I took a guess. Between you spouting off Scripture and hanging out with Amya, I figured it was coming somewhere around there.”

Peter smiled and turned to look out the front of the vehicle, whispering, “‘The Lord is my shepherd. … He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.’”

“I know that one.”

“Which one is it then?”

Grace shook her head and looked at a black male, six foot three, wearing a gray hoodie and with pants down his ankles. He looked strangely familiar. She couldn’t place him though, and he wasn’t doing anything that currently would lead her to pulling him aside and questioning him, so she let it go.

“Which Scripture?” Peter asked again.

“Don’t remember exactly,” Grace muttered.

“It’s Psalm twenty-one. People say it at funerals a lot, but I think that it’s much better in other cases. ‘The Lord is my shepherd.’ It’s so awesome. God guides me and leads me and prevents me from going astray.”

“I think you went astray,” Grace said as she picked up on watching another individual walking down the street toward the transit station. She tracked his progress as Peter continued.

“I did—but God came and found me. I’m pretty sure that would happen for any one of the flock that got away.”

Grace snorted.

“What?” Peter asked.

“I highly doubt God’s going to come find me. I don’t want to be found.”

If you would like to join in the wonders of WIPpet Wednesday, head on over to MyRandomMuse after making your post and link it up. If you’re just an avid reader and want some more amazing excerpts, head on over to MyRandomMuse and comment on other’s posts. We’re all comment whores.

Thanks for tuning in!

WIPpet Wednesday and NaNoWriMo update! November 6, 2013

Howdy!

I have goodies for you! We have a WIPpet excerpt from Fallen from Grace (the one I have been doing), and we have a NaNoWriMo update!! Because the update is quicker, we’ll start with that (don’t ask me why I’m typing in the plural…I have no clue why).

I was off to a slow start with NaNoWriMo due to work obligations, but my boyfriend is amazingly awesome. Both on Monday and Tuesday he came with me to two write-ins (the ones I host) and sat there patiently while I typed away. I managed to get up to 19842 words total! That means I’m about one day ahead of where I want to be. My goal for NaNoWriMo is 90,000 words! That’s right, 90,000 or somewhere close to when this novel should be completed. That means I have to average 3,000 words a day. It’s insane. I know.

So I’m at just about 20k words, and I’ve completed three chapters and prologue in that. The chapter titles are awesome, though I still thing the titles for For by Grace might be a bit better. I’m definitely struggling with this piece. It’s the first time I’ve done a series with an overarching story arc that expands ALL of the novels. Meaning, I have to make sure everything is explained and so and so forth.

Anyway…onto WIPpet. If you don’t know what WIPpet is, I’ll tell you. It’s an awesome little thing that a bunch of us do, where you post an excerpt from your current WIP (Work In Progress) that somehow relates to the date. If you don’t have a current WIP, then you can start a brand new one. Once you do that amazingness, you go here and link up with everyone’s WIPpets. THEN you go and read everyone’s (or as many as you can) and comment with some good stuff. We’re all comment WHORES, so make it good. =P

Today I have for you an excerpt from Fallen from Grace, which is the sequel to For by Grace AND my current NaNoWriMo novel. Here we go… My crazy math for today is this. 1 + 1 + 1 + 3 = 6 x 0 = 0 + 6 + 2 = 8 for a total of eight paragraphs from chapter two, which is aptly titled “Fight Club”

“Get out of the room!” she called to all the kids in there except the ones fighting.

Pulling out her pepper spray, Grace started to shake it as she tried to step in between the two boys. The other kids started to file out quickly, and Grace took the only chance she could get. She lifted the tab on the top of the spray can and depressed the button. A stream of white liquid squirted out and in the general direction of the boy’s faces.

Grace held her breath, waiting for the onslaught of pepper spray to hit her as well. The boys stopped fighting and rolled away from each other. Grace grabbed one of them and dragged him out of the room by the back of his shirt. He was clutching at his face in a vain attempted to get the OC spray off of him. Grace ignored him and went into the small confined room for the other one.

She pulled him out kicking and screaming and rammed him against the opposite wall of the other one. She holstered her OC can and stared at them, still waiting for the OC mist to catch up with her and affect herself. Since both of the kids had stopped fighting, Grace let out a breath.

“What the hell was that?”

“OC,” she answered. “And your name is?”

“Danny,” the blond one answered.

Grace smirked and set her hands on her hips. Danny clung to his face, trying to wipe the spray from his eyes. It would only make it worse for him in the long run, but Grace wasn’t about to inform him of that. The punishment of touching his dick after touching his face that had been covered in OC would be enough to warrant her silence and to keep him from attempting to fight in the locker room again.

 

There you have it. And thanks to the awesome and amazing K. L. Schwengel for hosting this each and every week (even when she’s traveling).

WIPpet Wednesday!! October 30, 2013

I love Halloween. I love Pumpkins. I absolutely love pumpkins more than Halloween. Recently my boyfriend and I adopted a little girl husky. I say little, but she’s almost 50lbs, so she’s not that little (sorry for those who don’t use our weight system, but I’m way too lazy this morning to convert it for you). We named her Roslin after Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica! She’s a total sweetheart, calmest dog ever, so well trained, and just over a year old. She was found on the streets as a stray. Go figure.

So beyond that amazing sidenote. Still struggling. Will push through. Hating work right now. =P Awesome. Now, onto the WIPpet.

If you would like to join in! Please do! Write a post with your current WIP (Work In Progress) that somehow correlates with the date. Feel free to get really creative with the math. Since I’m in the process of not writing *cough* I chose to yet again write for ten minutes and post what I had. This is a direct continuation of last week and the week before. So if you want, go look those up! Once you write your post, then go link it up with the rest of them here. Make sure to read and comment on as many posts as you can. We’re all attention and “review” whores, so it makes us feel fantabulous when you do it.

Grace just got smashed into the car by the punk, remember? Well…here’s some more of Grace’s really horrible and not good day. (I title these chapters, so I really do need to come up with some good titles. Feel free to give suggestions!)

Grace popped four ibuprofen as soon as she sat back in her cruiser, glowering the entire time. If this was any indication about her day, then it was not going to be a good one. She rubbed her leg where the punk had kicked her and winced. Four months prior she’d broken her leg in an attempt on her life. A bad guy in a stolen cruiser had run her off the road, spinning her vehicle five times before she rolled to a stop.

Shaking her head, Grace stared at Toulouse’s car. The punk was nestled in the back seat and the punk’s mama was being arm wrestled down the road toward her. Apparently in her lapse of judgment, leaving the scene meant she would have to take the woman down to the jail. Growling low and in the back of her throat, Grace got out of her cruiser and unlocked the backseat.

“Any way I can get out of this?” she asked Toulouse.

“Nope.”

Rolling her eyes, Grace helped shove the woman in the back seat. After a brief pause and Toulouse leaving, Grace leaned over the open door and spoke to the large whale-like woman.

“Ma’am. I want you to listen closely. I’m taking you down to the jail.”

“Oh no you ain’t.”

“I’m taking you down to the jail and arresting you for domestic assault. Any other questions and the corrections officers will answer them.”

Before the woman could speak again, Grace slammed the door shut and spun on her heel, ignoring the spark of pain in her leg. If she could give off the perception of being strong, then she was strong. She was just about to turn to Toulouse to ask him a question when a Ford F150 turned the corner and gunned its engine.

Stepping back, Grace glared as it started to come closer and passed their vehicles without even slowing down. She scoffed and turned to follow the trucks progress. It made it to the end of the block, not stopping at the stop sign and speeding away. The two other officers that had arrived jumped into their cruisers and missed it.

Grace’s eyes widened as she watched the six-year-old black boy dodge out into the street without looking. Her heart thudded hard in her chest and the back of her head, and she tripped over her boot as she took the first step forward. Grabbing for her radio against her shoulder, Grace depressed the button and called for paramedics.

The truck didn’t stop. Grace started forward, running as fast as she could down the street. The two cruisers took off after the suspect and were completely out of sight by the time Grace made it to the gasping boy. She pressed her hands against his cheeks and stared at him fully in the face.

“I got you, kid,” she whispered and started to analyze his injuries.

Broken leg for sure. His thigh was pressed at an awkward angle, jutting out from his body toward the sidewalk he had just run from. Blood leaked slowly from his nose and quickly from a cut on the side of his head. His arm was broken; Grace felt the break when she ran her fingers along his oily skin.

“You’re going to be okay,” she muttered.

20131030-090644.jpg

20131030-090655.jpg

Struggles and WIPpet Wednesday! October 23, 2013

I’m going to be brutally honest in this post. I’m struggling. It’s not just that I’m struggling with writing, because I am, but I’m also struggling financially. Writing isn’t my main income; simply, it can’t be. I in no way make enough to live off it, so my writing has been pushed the back burner.

I’m a full-time student, and this semester I was forced to max out on credits (has to do with requirements and when things are being offered). Three of those classes are history classes, meaning I’m bogged down with reading and papers. This week alone I have three papers due. Next week I have three papers due. On top of this, I work two part-time jobs. I work at a church; it’s supposed to be 10-15 hours a week, but it usually turns into 20-25 hours a week. They pay me gas money, but since this is also related to school, I can’t go and quit.

Secondly, I’m a freelance copy-editor. I usually average one novel to edit a month. However, me editing a novel doesn’t necessarily mean that someone pays me. While I ask for 25% of the fee upfront before I even start editing, people often push back paying me the rest of it. This is currently happening with a client. I’m struggling because I need the money, but I know (at least if  said person is honest) that the client doesn’t have it to pay me right now. Copy-editing is my primary source of income. Sure I have loans and the income from the church, but on average I live off about $800 a month ($500 of that is actual income, the rest is loans). That’s it.

Most people, I don’t think, really get that. That $800 includes rent and utilities, gas and food and anything else that I need during the month. It’s tough being a student, and it’s tough working two part-time jobs that don’t really pay and one where clients can just walk out on me without paying.

In the meantime, between school and church and copy-editing, I write. Or at least I’m supposed to be writing. I have four books coming out in the next year and plans to have books coming out in 2015, but I haven’t written any of them yet. Since September, I think I’ve maybe sat down four or five times to actually write. Writing has always been an outlet of stress for me, and since this semester started, I haven’t been able to do it at all.

We all struggle, and these are only a few of the big things that I’m working through right now. In this day and age, it’s hard to be a full-time student and pay for school. I get no help in bills from parentals, and most people assume that all parents help their children. Well, I got help as a undergraduate to a very small extent, but as a graduate student, it’s all on me. As a graduate student, I’m supposed to be able to live independently and still be able to provide for everything that I need.

Meanwhile, I’m supposed to have a life, have a boyfriend who I actually spend time with, have time to watch television shows that are just airing for the first time, have time to sleep and play with my crazy kittens. It’s just not feasible. So what is it that I’m doing wrong? And how do I fix is so that I can survive in this world I’ve been thrust into?

Now…aside from the struggles, I’m going to share a WIPpet today. I just wrote it. Or will write it in about two seconds.

WIPpet is where you post your current WIP (Work in Progress). Make sure that what you post relates somehow to the date and then link it up with the rest of them. Go read and share the love! Today I wrote for ten minutes for the month of October…I was in class while writing this. Shhh…don’t tell the prof!

Grace’s heart started to pound as the waddling whale got even closer to where she stood. She glanced back and saw Toulouse stood dumbfounded behind her with the punk in tow. The punk’s jaw had dropped and his dark cheeks had a rosy-purplish tint to them.

“His mama,” Grace muttered and took another two steps forward. “Ma’am!”

She didn’t listen. She pushed past Grace and straight to her son. “What you doin’, boy?”

“Oh Mama, I ain’t do nothin’, you know that.”

“I swear to you, don’t lie to me again, boy.”

The punk straightened his shoulders and strained his arms against Toulouse’s hold. Grace skittered over behind the woman and tried to get her attention, but there was nothing she could do.

“Mama, I said, I ain’t doin’ nothing’. These motherfuckers—”

The smack rang throughout the street. Grace wrapped both her arms around the woman’s upper arm and held on as she ripped her hand forward, smacking her child again. Toulouse tugged the punk backward and shoved him into the open car before turning on the woman. Grace had her leg around one of the woman’s large thighs as she tried to knock the heavy woman onto the ground.

Toulouse jumped onto the woman’s back, gripping her hand as they went down. The woman face planted onto the asphalt, wailing out as the air rushed from her lungs. Grace’s head hit the street and then bounced into the tire as she was thrown from the woman’s body. Toulouse was still on top of the woman as Grace shook her head, trying to clear the black spots.

The punk stepped out of the vehicle, crunching his foot down onto Grace’s leg. She cried out in pain before fisting her hand and gritting her teeth. Grace caught a flash of dark blue as two other officers raced over. One wrenched the punk out of the backseat, pulling him through the vehicle backward and the other jumped down to help Toulouse.

Grace rolled over onto her side and grimaced, the pain still radiating through her body, up her leg into her hip and up to her shoulder. She took deep huffing breaths as she tried to work through each passing second. Tears leaked out of her eyes as she scrunched them shut. Sound disappeared as she focused on shoving any bubbling hurt back down and away from her body.

A hand on her arm caused her to pause, and she took two deep breaths before she pried her eyes open. The punk was nowhere in sight, and his mama was sprawled on the ground ten feet away, hands twisted behind her back with cuffs on and her skirt around her waist. Grace released her muscles and melted into the asphalt. Toulouse’s eyes were above as she nodded at him.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah…just dandy,” she replied and rolled onto her back, hitting the tire of his cruiser. “Just fucking dandy.”

 

WIPpet Wednesday! October 2, 2013

I have some exciting news, and yes I’m stealing all of your attention. My novel Forever Burn is a finalist for a Rainbow Award!! I knew the book was up for it, but I honestly never thought it would get this far. I’m so freakin’ happy and feel completely blessed. They announce the winner in Dec, which I doubt I’ll win. I’m just so happy to be a finalist.

Check out all the finalists here.

FinalistSM-1Okay…now that that is out of the way, I’ll share with you my WIPpet for today. Since I’m at school and I might have been slightly hungover this morning, I FORGOT to send stuff for my WIPpet with Emma’s story. So today you’re getting the start of a new novel that I’ll be writing during NaNo. Yes…I will be stopping Emma’s story to write on Grace’s once more. I haven’t touched Grace’s story since April when I finished editing it, but it is due to come out June 1, 2014. Now to write the sequel.

Since it is October the Second, I will write for two minutes to give you the beginning of the novel. Oh, just an FYI, Grace is a Sheriff’s Deputy.

Grace’s feet pounded hard against the asphalt as her belt moved against her hips. She heaved breath after breath as she ran as hard as she could. Squinting her eyes, she tried to see the punk who had ditched his car when she pulled him over.

“Fucker,” she muttered and lowered her head to gain more speed.

They turned the corner and Grace grabbed the radio attached to her shoulder and shouted into it.

“We’re on Canary.”

“10-4. Coming your way,” Toulouse answered.

Grace’s ankle rolled as she stepped on a rock, her thick boot keeping her from completely collapsing. She straightened her back and pushed off her injured foot. She heard the sirens coming and knew Toulouse was close. She had to do it—had to prove to herself and to him that she could.

She huffed and counted to three, getting even closer to the punk. Just as the cruiser turned the corner down the street, Grace launched herself forward with her arms outstretched and grabbed hold of the punk’s left leg. His right foot came up and smacked into her chin just as he started to tumble down to the ground.

“Stop resisting!” Grace shouted. “Stop resisting!”

If you would like to join in, just DO IT!! Write a blog post with your current WIP (Work In Progress). Make it somehow correlate to the date and be as creative with the maths as you want. Then go here and link it up with all the others. Be sure to check out everyone’s!