Tag: excerpt

Partners in Fighting Crime #WIPpetWednesday #Snippet #WIP #Excerpt

I’ve been working on this novel for a week or so now. I thought it was crime/mystery at first. I realized the other day, it most definitely is not. It is a psychological thriller through and through. I even looked up a definition of it and sent it to my spouse going this, this, this, this, this, this…ALL OF THIS…is exactly what this novel is. haha.

So…I guess I’m writing a psychological thriller with a crime/mystery bent. This novel is about an FBI Special Agent Morgan Stone (yes, she is sister to Chaplain Amya Stone, Grace’s infamous girlfriend). Yes, Amya does show up in this novel, and Grace too, albeit briefly.

This novel is about my agent trying to catch a serial killer. That’s the basic of it. Morgan has been with the same partner at work for near a decade, so she knows him amazingly well. This is just a little snippet into their working and personal relationship. From chapter 3 of Stone’s Mistake. This is completely unedited as I never edit while writing a novel because well I won’t finish it if I do. So bear with me on that.

26 paragraphs from Chapter 3 of Stone’s Mistake. 26 is for the day of the month! That’s your WIPpet.

Sighing, Morgan glanced up as Pax jerked his chair back and plopped his briefcase heavily on the desktop. She shot him a questioning gaze before leaning up to focus on her obviously angry partner. “What happened?”

“Mel. Mel is what happened.” He huffed out a breath and sat next to her, grumbling something she couldn’t hear.

“Care to elaborate?”

Pax and his wife had been married fourteen years, and it still wasn’t unusual for him to show up miffed about a fight they’d had just before he’d left for the office. Morgan, in some ways, reveled in his life. Married, boy-girl twins, stability, a home. It was everything she didn’t have and only some things she wanted.

She’d known Pax since before he married Mel, had been the best man at his wedding even, so she knew the ins and outs of their issues. When he shot her a look, Morgan chuckled. “Forget to take out the trash?”

“One flipping day, that’s all I wanted.”

“Wanted for what?” Morgan turned back to her computer screen, deciding she wouldn’t waste all her energy on placating him in his foils.

Pax grunted. “I wanted to go golfing.”

“Since when do you golf?” She furrowed her brow, shook her head, and pursed her lips. “And who the hell do you golf with?”

“None of your business.”

“Wait. Hold on. You don’t golf. What did you really want to do?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he muttered, powering on his computer and clenching his jaw.

Morgan turned her lips to the side as she debated whether or not to pursue the topic. Giving in, she pushed slightly back from her desk and turned to face him fully. “No. What did you really want to go do?”

“I was trying to set up a renewal of our vows.”

“Oh…” Morgan pulled a face. “Really?”

“Yes.” He glared.

She laughed softly. “Didn’t figure your for the sentimental type.”

“It’s a surprise, for our fifteenth. Thought it might be nice.”

“You thought it would get you out of some hot water for something you did, or you thought it’d win you some bonus points for the future when you screw up.”

The look he gave her told her the latter was correct. She laughed again, shaking her head. If he was going this deep in his planning, he was going to have to lie better than trying to go play golf when the man had never swung a club in his life.

“Pax, you’re gonna have to learn to lie better.”

“I can’t lie to Mel, you know that.”

“You’re going to have to if you want this to be a surprise.”

“Can’t you—”

“Absolutely not. This is your own fresh hell you welcomed into your brain. You do it. I am not the best friend who plans vow renewals. You’re lucky enough I dressed up for your wedding and showed up for it.”

He grimaced. Ending the conversation, Morgan turned back to her computer and continued searching for Reilly’s real name and face. She was another hour deep into search when her phone in her pocket buzzed. Frowning at it, she knocked her head to Pax to see if he was paying attention or not. When he wasn’t, she slipped away from their desks and down the hall to a quiet and empty conference room.

A Mission and a Risk #WIPpetWednesday

And here we are at ANOTHER WIPpet Wednesday. So excited to be here. =P I’m sharing from a book titled De-Termination, which is the second Quarter Life book. I published Unbound in 2015! That seems like so flipping long ago, it’s hard to imagine. I didn’t realize it had been that long.

This book has been lingering–outlined 2/3 of the way–in my files on my computer. I knew that whenever I got back to writing, it would be one of the first I worked on. I finished the outline and have written about 45,000 words of the book (as of writing this blog post for you on Tuesday afternoon). It’s set to be over 100,000 words total when all is said and done.

This scene comes to us from the 16th chapter. Molly (my witchy BFF) is on a rescue with her protege (Joel) and tech guru (Ben) to find Faye. Faye (my vampy lunatic) vanished like ten chapters ago, and Molly’s crew had no idea where she’d gone off to or why she was gone. They obviously figured most of that out and are now out to rescue their newfound friend.

This book takes place about one year after Unbound. PS, I’ve already thought out what will happen in book 3, tentatively titled Release, and I might be itching to outline it fully soon, though I’m trying to hold off until I finish this one.

Here’s the WIPpet. 21 sentences for (8 x 5) – 20 = 20 + 1 for good luck!

They walked another kilometer in complete silence, not wanting to alert whoever had taken Faye that they were arriving. Molly kept her wits about her, relying on Joel’s empathic abilities to alert her if anyone was in the vicinity. Through silent communication, they knew they were alone.
She used her hand to direct them as they reached the ravine. Putting one finger over her mouth, she made sure they stayed quiet. Her heart rapped in her chest. She was about to attempt something either very stupid or life saving. Closing her eyes, she cast a protection spell over Ben and Joel, weaving the protection net around their bodies. If they stayed put they would be fine.
Licking her lips, Molly put her hand up so Joel and Ben could see from where they were hidden. She waved and then she focused all her magic. She’d done this spell before, had failed at it before, but she had done it. There was no telling if it would work this time, especially because she had no idea where exactly Faye was.

Listening to her own breathing, Molly calmed her heart. She focused on Faye. Her smile, her scent, her voice, their love. With that brimming and swirling within her, Molly called on the power of force, manipulating it, changing time and space.

This had to work. This had to be it. Molly could taste it. They were close to bringing her home.

A small excerpt for a #WIPpetWednesday

I asked on Facebook this week if anyone was even participating in WIPpet anymore. I have no idea. Those who I knew who were doing it, aren’t anymore. But I miss it so much. I thought I’d share a little from what I have been writing this whole month.

This is from Learning Love which is a May/December romance. This is when Becca, the soon-to-be love interest, means the ex-husband for the first time. It’s part of what made me absolutely fall in love with her character. She’s so strong in ways she doesn’t even know.

13 paragraphs for the year 20 – the month 7 = 13.

As she got closer to the door, Becca could hear a voice shouting through it.

“Kimberly, open up! Come to the fucking door. Seriously, Kimmie. Open the damn door.”

Becca pursed her lips and glanced around to make sure Kimberly wasn’t hiding in the kitchen or on the couch. She hesitantly stepped toward the door and peeked out the small glass window before unlocking it and opening it.

“Who the hell are you?” he shouted with wide eyes before trying to get around her.

Becca planted her feet firmly, refused to open the door any more, and would not move.

“Who the hell are you?” she countered back. “Don’t you think it’s a bit obnoxious to pound on a poor woman’s door until someone comes to answer it. Aren’t there better methods of getting someone’s attention rather than being a beast in a suit?”

She eyed him up and down, deciding right then and there she didn’t like him. He was dressed impeccably, but his demeanor was all man, all power, all superior entitlement.

“I own this house.”

“Bullshit,” Kimberly’s voice echoed down the hall as feet pattered heavily on the floor.

“Daddy!” Michael ran right by Becca and wrapped his arms around the man’s legs tightly, burying his face in his legs. “Why are you here?”

“Yes, why are you here, Bradley?” Kimberly asked angrily.

Becca decided to step to the side, thinking Kimberly had this handled better than she could, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to completely leave.

“Who is she?” He jerked his head in Becca’s direction and spat the question.

I honestly cannot wait for everyone else to read this piece. It might be my favorite since Memoir in the Making. It’s definitely not my norm, but these two characters…I don’t know, but I fell head over heels in love with them both.

Back for some WIPpet Wednesday #WIPpetWednesday #amwriting

Oh if only I remember clearly how to do this and where the links are and everything! It has been so long since I’ve been apart of WIPpet, and I sorely miss it.

I’ve decided to post from this scifi tentacle thing I started writing the other day. I’ve only made it 2000 words into it. I’d also love to finish this paranormal romance novella thing I started forever and a day ago that I’ve only ever made it halfway through the first chapter. OOOOoooops! In the upcoming months, I’d love to finish this and I need to (read have to, must, absolutely) finish De-Termination, which brings me back to Faye & her wild and crazy antics. De-Termination releases Oct 1, and I haven’t even written it. I do have a pretty cover for it though! And a blurb.

De-TerminationFINAL

 

Faye has never been more determined in her life.

 

After becoming an integral part of Molly’s crew to find unique creatures, Faye feels she’s finally found a place she can stick around for a few years. She grows more comfortable with the team each passing day, and when Molly sends her and Benjamin on a job, she jumps at the opportunity.

Disaster strikes only a few days in. As chaos crumbles down around her, Faye doesn’t know where to turn for help. Dealing with the hiccups of life and plans has always been easy, but this time, Faye’s not sure she’ll survive. Her only hope is that Molly can find her in time.

 

Here’s to hoping being a part of WIPpet will give me the kick in my ass to start writing again. Here’s 9 paragraphs from this scifi short story I started. It’s at the very beginning, and I think the only thing you need to know is that Calleen works in receiving on a station.

Klockow stomped over to her, his thick metal boots clacking against the metal floor. Cal’s shoulders tensed. He always made her do that. She breathed deeply as she grabbed the last plastibox and slid it onto the hoverpad.

“Calleen,” he said, his gruff and deep voice reverberating in her chest.

“Yes, sir?” she asked, straightening her back and looking him over. His wide chest was probably half her height, and he stood over her to the point where she had to strain her neck just to make out his drool soaked beard. Kloakan’s were one of the ugliest species out there, according to more than just humans, and Cal agreed with them.

“This is Rev.”

A small woman popped her head out from behind Klockow and gave Cal a small wave with one of her bright green tentacles. Her smile seemed to be a mix of excitement and nerves. Cal didn’t dare smile back.

“She needs to be trained, and Halvarti is out today.”

“Yes, sir,” Cal replied. She tried her best not to say more than those two words to Klockow, but it didn’t always work out.

Grunting as more drool slipped down his beard and onto the metal floor below, Klockow looked Cal over carefully. “Train her right and you might get a bonus.”

“Yes, sir.” That time she said the words with a bit more enthusiasm. Any bonus would help her out in the long run. The credits would be funneled exactly where they needed to go: to her son.

If you want to join in WIPpet! DO IT! It’s open to any and all who care to join in. You just go over here to our awesome linkie after making your blog post and then add it in. Check out other WIPpeteers while you’re at it and give us load of comments because we’re all comment whores. Thanks to are amazing hostess, Emily Witt, for taking the time to run it!

 

*cracks whip* WIPetty WIPetty WIPetty #WIPpetWednesday

Good morning!! I’m back for a second week in a row. That’s like a record or something. I did finish NaNo on the 14th. And since my in-laws canceled Thanksgiving with us, I now have the opportunity to finish writing the book this month. 3.5 chapters and an epilogue left to go. w00t! then I get to start the wonderful editing process.

For this week’s snippet, I chose the scene pretty much directly after the last one. I’m trying not to give away too many hints, and that’s going to get hard to do real soon. Here are 16 sentences from chapter 2 of OBlique. Here’s my math. 2-1 = 1 and 5 +1 = 6. 1 and 6 makes 16 when put side by side. =P

“So at Logan’s this girl pretty much fainted in one of the aisles.”

“And you just happened to be there?” Sissy asked, flipping her silky hair over her shoulder.

Jaclyn had always been jealous of her looks. Where she was tiny and scrawny and could easily pass for a boy if she wanted to, Sissy was curvy and voluptuous in all the right places. “Yes, I just happened to be there buying my dinner. Anyway, Dale didn’t know what to do, so I had to intervene.”

“Ahh, playing the hero. And was this lass pretty?”

Jaclyn pursed her lips. Her cheeks reddened and her chest heated. Before she could respond in either the affirmative of the negative, Sissy was pushing at her shoulders.

“Oh my God, she was, wasn’t she?”

Jaclyn nodded.

“Come on, Tiny. Spill the details.”

“Ugh, you know I hate that.”

“Spill!”

Taking a deep breath, Jaclyn leaned back into the couch again as she flicked her tennis shoes off her feet and curled her legs under her body. “Nothing much. She said she got dizzy and tried to sit down. I think she sat down harder than she expected to.”

“And you did a medical exam?”

Jaclyn gave Sissy a short look. “Get your head out of the romance novel, Lenora. That’s not how it works in the real world.”
Sissy clicked her tongue and shook her head. “That’s how it happened with me and Dougie.”

“Dougie and me,” Jaclyn corrected.

“Shh. It can happen anyway.”

And that’s it folks! All are welcome to join in the WIPeteering fun. Just make a blog post with a snippet somehow related to the date and linkie up here. As for the rest of what’s going on in my world…

Yesterday I had an odd and interesting thing happen to me. While I was avoiding writing, because why else would I write, I was working on whatever I could find. That meant first edits for Lost & Forsaken so I could send to betas, copy-edits on my short Deathscape with has a potential release date of April 6th with Less Than Three Press, and then I did finally get to writing on this new thing OBlique and promoting my release for Grace through Redemption happening on Dec 1. Like…how many more books/stories can I add into that chaos in one day!?

That’s the odd that. Oh! And I finally got video of bumblebee kicking up a storm in my belly. It’s about time. Only took months to get a good enough video of it happening.

Pssst did someone say #WIPpetWednesday?

Hey all. I know, I know. I haven’t been around. But I’m working on that. I have at least been writing, this month. I haven’t been writing much in general. This pregnancy thing really threw me for an unexpected loop.

Anyway. I am writing. I’m writing something totally and completely new. It’s called OBlique. It’s a romancey thing. At first, before naming it, I called it “Romancey Thing Take Deux!” but I do have a title now.

I will not make it around to blogs today. I should be able to make rounds tomorrow, so watch out peoples, I’m back for at least one week! w00t!

So how does this work again? It’s been so long…

16 short paragraphs from chapter 1, where my two lovelies meet. My math you ask? 1 x 1 = 1 and 18 – 1 = 17 so there. =P

The crash shook the aisle. Jaclyn spun around and looked toward the end of the store, as far as she could see. Cans of soup were rolling around on the ground. Saying nothing to Donnetta, Jaclyn stepped forward and down the aisle, keeping her eyes open to anything. There was commotion, and while she wanted to help with whatever it was, she also really just wanted to go home to her lonely bowl of cereal and veg on the couch for a few hours.

Dale was leaned over a woman who was pressed against the end cap. She was beautiful with dark locks of hair and a heart shaped face, but she was pale as a ghost. Dale was mumbling crap at her, trying to figure out what to do. He glanced up and sighed relief when he saw Jaclyn standing there.

“Good. Tiny’s here,” he said to everyone who was gathering around.

“Me?” Jaclyn put a hand to her chest before squatting down and reaching for the woman’s wrist. “Ma’am?”

Her eyes popped open, and jade green shone back. Jaclyn bit her cheek and nodded. “Hi. I’m Tiny,” she said, using the nickname she hated, but everyone was standing around and wouldn’t know who she was if said her legal name. “Wanna tell me what happened?”

“I—I’m fine,” she whispered. Her eyes scanned the small crowd, and if it was possible, she grew even paler.

Jaclyn shifted her hand on her wrist and checked her pulse. It was racing, but she couldn’t tell if it was because of embarrassment or something else. “You’re obviously not fine. You’re on the ground.”

“I’m fine,” she said, sternly. “I got dizzy and tried to lean against the cart or the shelf, but I guess I missed.”

“Well, you managed to sit.” Jaclyn crinkled her eyes and nodded her head toward Dale. “Get her some water, will you? And you all can give this lady some room!” The four or five people around her stepped back. Most didn’t leave the vicinity though, that was too much to hope for.

“What’s your name?”

“Kara.”

“Kara, I’m Tiny. This is Dale,” she said as he brought back over a plastic cup of water. “Drink this up for me.”

Jaclyn settled her hand on Kara’s thigh and glanced around. She wanted to get rid of the gawkers probably as much as Kara did, but she also knew that wouldn’t happen. Even in a larger small town, this would be the talk of the day. Swallowing, Jaclyn looked back down to find Kara staring at the cup and not having drank any of it.

“Drink up.”

Kara looked as though she was going to protest, but she cringed and took a small sip of the water instead. Jaclyn licked her lips and shook her head.

“Dale, get them out of here, will ya?”

“Got it, Tiny.” He stood up, his bulging belly hanging over his pants which were only held up by the suspenders he wore. “Let’s give her some space. Donnetta, you ready? I’ll check you out right now.”

Well there you go! New story and hopefully a new leaf turned so I’m back to this writing thing. I really need to focus on it now before bumblebee arrives because let’s face it, not much writing will be done then. I have loads going on bookwise still because I write so freakin’ much last year. I have my last release of the year on December 1st, so I’m in the midst of promotion right now, writing this book, editing Lost & Forsaken and doing a print proof on Fallen from Grace. I’m also thinking about this other book I need to write for release this coming October, the sequel to Unbound. So loads and loads going on.

I’ll be stalking you all tomorrow! Catch you on the flip side.

Back to Camping! #WIPpetWednesday #ghoststories

Hey all,

So I decided to go back to camping. I need to get writing again, and I’m hoping this will help with my motivation. What this means is we’re back to the ghost story novella I started working on months and months ago. If you don’t remember, or weren’t around then, Kay is a Ranger at Glacier National Park, and she’s telling all the newb rangers an awesome ghost story. They’re sitting around a campfire, chatting it all up.

With this story, I was taking it scene by scene, from beginning until I finished writing and editing and it was ready for submission. So as I reminder–here we were the last time I posted.

“You’re just telling lies,” Jackson said.

“Fine,” Kay countered. “If I’m telling lies, then I’m telling lies. I’m not going to try and convince you.”

That was mostly because she didn’t truly believe the legend herself. Kay hadn’t every seen this Eira-ghost person anyway. She’d only heard the same stories she was telling and then the continue stories from the previous two years she’d been a ranger there. Certainly that should give her some credit in terms of how truthful what she said was. Apparently with Jackson it gave her nothing.

And now for the new part. 16 sentences. My math goes like this. 19 – 2 – 1 = 16 ;-)

Kay leaned down on her log and wrapped her arms around her legs, staring off into the fire. Slowly she shut out everyone around her and focused on the sounds of the forest and the flames in front of her. It calmed and soothed her, giving her breath when she thought she had none. It was going to be a long summer. They were predicting bad fires from the dry winter, and already it was freezing outside. Shivering as the temperature dropped, Kay focused on nothing other than her own thoughts.

Jackson was an ass. She sighed. Hopefully they’d get along well enough to make it through the summer, and hopefully he wouldn’t be the disappearing kind who’d only make it the first two weeks and crap out on them. Glancing around the fire, she scrunched her nose and dug the toe of her boot into the dirt.

Without another word, she stood up and sauntered back to her bunkhouse. She was glad she’d brought extra blankets. She’d need them for a bit. Shuffling around in her room, she made herself at home and then slipped onto the tiny cot. Closing her eyes, Kay smiled. She was home, home again for at least one more summer.

For more WIPpet fun, check out this link!

*waves* It’s #WIPpet Wednesday! And I’m back!

So it’s certainly been awhile, but I’m slowly getting back on the band wagon. I spent the summer traveling and sick (more on that later), but I’m getting back on my feet, so long as people stop dying around here and I stop presiding at funerals.

I’m running low on time this morning, but I’ll be back to check in on everyone I’ve missed in so many months!

Update since I last posted?

I finished edits on Unbound: Quarter Life #1, which releases in October.
I’m in the process of doing edits for Deathscape, a short story accepted by Less Than Three Press and due out sometime in 2016.
I’m working on beta edits for Lost & Forsaken: Missing Persons #1 — A Detective Grace Novel due out in June 2016.
I’m working on a print proof for For by Grace (Spirit of Grace #1).
I’m waiting on publisher edits of Grace through Redemption (Spirit of Grace #3) due out in December.

So yeah, I’m overloaded on editing right now and really doing no writing, but hopefully soon. I’ve still got a lot going on this year and next.

For my WIPpet today. I’m sharing from chapter two of Lost & Forsaken as I go through and do my own edits. I’ll probably switch to whatever I’m writing as soon as I start writing again (which I swear will be soon because I need it!). Today you get 6 lines from ch 2, because 6 + 2 = 8 for the month of August!! For minor, minor context, the third person talking is Crystal, Grace’s BFF.

 

As soon as the waiter left, Amya lifted her hand and turned Grace’s face to hers. Grace smiled, and Amya pressed their lips together, swiping her tongue through Grace’s mouth. Grace groaned again and deepened the embrace for a moment before pulling back.

“That is good,” Amya said, wiping two fingers along her lips.

“You guys are…”

“Adorable?” Amya supplied.

“Sickening?” Grace said.

“Yeah…both of those at the same time.”

Campfire #Wippetwednesday #WIPpet #Ghoststories

I love ghost stories! I really do. Used to read them all the time as a kid. I almost didn’t post today. You see, this week is my birthday week, and tomorrow we’re heading out of town to go see Wicked in Denver. I’m crazy excited. I’ll be out of town, Thursday and Friday for that fun, home for a smidge on Friday and then gone again on Saturday for some training in Wichita. Crazy busy month for me. I think I’ll be driving to Wichita 4 or 5 times this month alone. It’s insane.

I haven’t been doing really any writing for almost two weeks. I haven’t worked on Grace, which I would love to finish up since there are only three and a half chapters left to write. I haven’t worked on this little number I’m sharing today. I did manage to write about 4k words on a short story, but I haven’t picked it up since and haven’t touched it or thought about it really other than “Hey, I should finish that!”

I’m not sure why I’m in such a lull, but it does seem to happen with me. I think I push myself and burn out and then need a few months to recuperate. What sucks, is that I have this novel that only has three AND A HALF! chapters until it’s done. My bet is if I were to sit down and focus I could probably tap that one out on the keyboard at least.

I’m not doing ROW80 today because I haven’t done anything on it! =P Also why I didn’t do it on Sunday, which was an INSANE day for me. I think it was as packed as I could possibly make it and then some. Anyway, enough rambling for now. Here’s the WIPpet.

WIPpet Wednesday is where you post a snippet from your WIP (Work in Progress) on your blog on Wednesday. The only hard fast rule is that it has to correlate to the date somehow. So for the 3rd day of June, you get 3 paragraphs from this temporarily named thing “Glacial Freeze”

“You’re just telling lies,” Jackson said.

“Fine,” Kay countered. “If I’m telling lies, then I’m telling lies. I’m not going to try and convince you.”

That was mostly because she didn’t truly believe the legend herself. Kay hadn’t every seen this Eira-ghost person anyway. She’d only heard the same stories she was telling and then the continue stories from the previous two years she’d been a ranger there. Certainly that should give her some credit in terms of how truthful what she said was. Apparently with Jackson it gave her nothing.

And that’s all you get! Hope to see you around! I should be sneaking through all your WIPpets this afternoon when I have internet again. ta ta for now

The story continues… #ROW80 and #WIPpetWednesday

As you can see below, I haven’t done much, and I’m heading in a very busy month for me. I’m hoping I get something done this week before I start driving around the entire middle part of our country it seems. I’m pretty sure I’ll be putting close to 3k miles on my car in the month of June with about 5 separate trips. Feel free to shoot me now and save me the pain later. =P

1. Lost & Forsaken — write 1 chapter a day until complete (3.5 chapters to go)

Sunday – none
Monday – none
Tuesday – none

2. Simple Biology — write 1 chapter a day until complete (26 chapters to go)

– This is to start after Lost & Forsaken is finished

3. Outline that novella thing the paranormal romance that has no name so, MILFy thing 3 (14 chapters)

4. Edit Grace through Redemption — 1 chapter a day until caught up, then as they come in from betas

Sunday: chap 13
Monday: none
Tuesday: none

I’m waiting no the next chapter from beta readers, so until then I have nothing to do.

5. Edit Unbound — 2 chapters a day until completed

Sunday: none
Monday: none
Tuesday: none

I swear to better work before Sunday, but I will be out of town Friday and Saturday, so we’ll see.

Onto WIPpet Wednesday.

As a continuation of what I wrote last week…I did finish the outline of this novella because I was trying to avoid writing more until I finish writing Grace. That didn’t work out completely in my head as I did write more, but I haven’t finished writing chapter one yet. This novella is still untitled, so MILFy 3 thing will be in progress as soon as I finish Grace 4.

If you would like to join in WIPpet Wednesday, it’s uber easy and open to all. Just make a blog post with a snippet of your work in progress, correlate it to the date somehow, and link it up here to all the rest of us. We’ll check you out, you check us out, and the world goes round.

Today I give you 15 short paragraphs for the last two digits in the year. I’ve also included the two moments of dialogue from the previous post to help you remember where you were.

“What does she do?”

“Just wanders,” Kay answered, her eyes wide.

“That’s it?” Harper asked. “Doesn’t seem so scary.”

Kay chuckled, rolling her neck. She wanted to go back inside to employee housing, but she didn’t at the same time. Sighing, she stretched her back muscles and stared into the fire. “Well, some people say she kidnaps children. I don’t think so much though. We don’t have a lot of children going missing around her. Stupid adults, yeah, children, not really.”

Harper nodded. “Sounds like a stupid legend if you ask me.”

Kay rolled her eyes. Some new recruits bought it, while others didn’t. It didn’t matter in the long run anyway. She was doing her duty and sharing the legend that had been shared with her, passing down the story to the next generation of rangers at the park so the story would always be alive. Tucking her hair behind her ear, Kay closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the night.

There was water moving far off, so far off she could barely hear it. The trees rustled in the wind, their branches brushing together to create a constant background noise that she missed during her winter months gone. Kay loved the outdoors, loved being in Glacier, but it wasn’t feasible to work there year round. It was closed most months of the year, meaning she had to find work in her home town for the remaining months.

But three months of Glacier was bliss for her. Bliss in a way she could never quite explain to anyone. She licked her lips and glanced back at the blazing fire. Luckily it was still the beginning of the summer and fire season hadn’t hit yet. Toward the end they wouldn’t be allowed to have their fires, not that other rangers would be interested that far in.

“What else does she do?” Gladys asked, bringing Kay out of her thoughts and back to the legend she was sharing.

Kay shrugged. “It’s said she didn’t appear until the early 1900s. She’s been here since before the park was a park.”

“How do you know it’s a she?”

Frowning, Kay looked over at Jackson. “Because she looks like a she?”

“Don’t all ghosts look alike anyway? Billowy, white, ethereal?”

Her brow furrowed, and Kay shook her head. “She has long white hair. I think she’s more doing a disappearing act than the whole Casper the ghost thing. I haven’t heard any stories of her levitating or glowing anyway.”

“So she could be real.”

“I guess,” Kay answered. “But she’s seen every year all the time. She’s not just a tourist, and she’s been here since before the park was established. She’d be damn old if she was real.”

And that’s all I have for you today folks! Catch you on the flip side!

Secrets Unbidden #ROW80 & #WIPpetWednesday

Morning! I can hear the birds chirping outside. It’s been my morning wake up for the last week or so. That means spring is officially 100% here if the birds are back. Such an amazing change to see. My wrist has been hurting a whole lot the past few days, meaning I’ve been walking around with an icy hot patch on underneath my brace. I don’t think it’s anything too serious, just too much typing and crocheting, of which I’ve been doing a TON of. The crocheting has calmed down since we mailed the packages for donation at church, but the typing shall continue (at least I hope).

Last night we had some kids stay with us from UMass. They’re bicycling across the country to raise money for brain cancer research, and needless to say, they weren’t expecting Kansas winds. They were very sweet, and I wish them the best, but it was great to connect with some people from “my neck of the woods.”

But enough rambling from me. I shall get to ROW80 and then explain WIPpet Wednesday and my woes.

ROW80

1. Write 3k words a day on Lost & Forsaken

Sunday: 0
Monday: 4543
Tuesday: 4091

I didn’t write on Sunday because sometimes Sundays are just insane for me. If I don’t wake up early early on Sunday morning, then it’s likely I won’t get any writing done for the day. I was doing work stuffs all day on Sunday (day job), so I never got around to do anything writing-wise.

2. Edit 2 chapters a day on Her Run for Rachael

3. Edit 2 chapters a day on shorts for Kaden

I haven’t worked on this at all yet.

4. Edit 1 chapter a day on Unbound: Book One of Quarter Life which is my own thing that’s supposed to be coming out in Oct.

I did manage to do my one chapter a day so far. Oh, no I didn’t, now that I look at my calendar. =P I’m 1 day behind. I’m not quite sure how that happened? Sunday perhaps when I did nothing, but I’ll catch up on this one easily.

WIPpet Wednesday

Now for WIPpet and my explanation. So…I’m not telling anyone about this novel I’m working on. Not really anyway, and I decided I needed to reveal this secret sooner rather than later because, let’s face it, I SUCK at keeping secrets like this. So my plan is to ramp up excitement on FB and twitter and stuffs and then reveal this novel on June 1st, so I don’t have to keep it a secret for well over a year. What this means, though, is I’m not going to be posting a lot of WIPpets from it or any at all, because that would just spoil the secret.

In honor of not telling secrets, this WIPpet is from a short story I’m possibly writing for submission. I’m not sure I like it though, and I can’t figure out why. This is a sci fi short about some people in space. And I’m not giving you more context than that, only because I know this can be taken in a dirty dirty fashion even though it’s not written that way in context.

My math for today is simple…2 + 4 = 6 for 6 very short paragraphs.

“See that?” she whispered, breathless.

How I longed to hear that tone in a different setting. Clearing my throat, I looked down at the white paper feeding from the tiny printer in the top of the station. There were squiggly lines covering it, and when I glanced back up her at her, Kapri’s cheeks were flushed darker and her chest rose and fell rapidly.

“Yeah,” I answered.

“It’s small. But it’s there.”

“This is small?” My voice squeaked, and I swallowed to get it back under control.

Kapri gave me a sharp and pitying look, her thick brows coming closer together and her eyes narrowing. “Yes, this is small.”

If you would like to join in WIPpet Wednesday. Post an excerpt of your WIP (Work In Progress) that relates to the date in some form or fashion and then link it all up here.

One month and ten days #WIPpetWednesday

Hey all! It’s been awhile since I’ve joined up. Basically a month. And boy did I need it. I haven’t posted on my blog in a month at all, and I needed the break. I was posting almost every single day for something, and trust me, while it’s fun, it’s hard to keep up with that. I’m planning on slowly easing back into it. But for now, I have quite a few announcements to make. A lot can happen in a month.

I had a short story accepted into an anthology. A Blizzard’s Blow, featuring Lollie and Andrea, will be included in the Young Love, Old Hearts anthology put on by Supposed Crimes, LLC. I’m really excited. I absolutely love this short story. A. M. Leibowitz, fellow WIPpeteer and friend, also had a short story accepted into the anthology! w00t! So if you want a review copy, let me know. It releases May 1.

I got my cover in for Memoir in the Making earlier this week. Eeeek! so I shall share it with you all. This one also releases May 1.

Memoir04sampleMemoir in the Making is my first romance novel, like pure romance, no weird creatures or random dying (okay only maybe a little random dying). I’m nervous and excited about it coming out. So, if you want a review copy of it, let me know.

Here’s the blurb:

Forbidden love is often the most attractive.

The first day of her junior year in college was supposed to go off without a hitch. But when Ainsley Jacobs sat in her memoir class with a professor she’d never had before, her life took an unexpected turn. She couldn’t get her well-dressed professor, Meredith Frenz, out of her head.

Meredith had lived a lonely yet comfortable life for the past fifteen years, and despite flings here and there, she had no desire to jump head first into a relationship, especially one with her student. Despite all her thwarted efforts, Meredith was determined to keep to herself and push Ainsley away.

Anyway…I also have a release on June 1, of Fallen from Grace (Spirit of Grace #2) because YAY! MORE GRACE! Grace through Redemption is currently with beta’s, meaning it’ll hopefully be out late this year or early next year.

I’m writing up short stories to go along with For by Grace. 5 in each bundle and 3 bundles. It’s an interesting experiment for me. I never thought I was very good at short stories and this is kind of proving that. Anyway. I have the first ones already out, the second ones are due on March 22 (and I haven’t even started yet, fast forward to today’s WIPpet), and the third bundle are due the first of May. I might be a bit insane by the time June is over.

I also just got edits back for Quarter Life: Unbound. My vampirey one? Yeah. I’m excited. I have a lot of revising to do, but it gets to see the like of day in October. Faye needs it. lol.

This leads me to WIPpet Wednesday. WIPpet Wednesday is where a bunch of us authorly types gets together, post something from our WIP (Work In Progress) for the rest of the world to see and then we cross pollinate and comment on everything. Each WIPpet has something to do with the date. Although, there is one exception to this rule. If you started something. Which I did, just a few minutes ago.

So you get the first 4 paragraphs of an Amya short story titled “Consult” which is in the second bundle of Amya’s Take-Out called Dignity Lost. P.S. I am never forcing myself to name this many things in one series again. Chapter numbers are fine from here on out.

Amya sat in her office and twiddled her thumbs. It had been an unending line of officers through her door for the past week and the silence was strong, chaotic and exactly what she needed. She lifted her hand and rubbed at the tension in the center of her chest, willing it to go away. Even Reyes being shot hadn’t been this bad. Davidson—that was a completely different story.

It may have easily been her hardest week at work ever, and not because of the topic at hand, but because of the time it took her to do it. It was as if the week suddenly spouted a whole extra hundred hours and she didn’t know where to put them or what to do with them. Sighing and rubbing her eyes, Amya listened to the happenings of her office.

Her secretary was out in the center office working on something. The click, click, click of her ridiculously long acrylic nails against the keyboard were enough to make Amya want to shut the door. Drawing in a deep breath, holding it in her chest, and letting it out slowly, Amya centered herself. She needed to be focused on God, on the next officer who walked through her door and the next moment when she had to once again hear how Davidson’s brains were blasted all over the ceiling of his cruiser.

She shook the image from her mind’s eye and swallowed hard. She’d seen it. Many of the other officers hadn’t. It was just a story passed along like the game telephone and each time someone new told it the story was more garbled, bloodier and worse than before. Amya knew they’d all be affected, but this obsession with the details of Davidson’s death were too much for her to bear.

And there you have it folks. If you’d like to join in WIPpet Wednesday, feel free. We’re open to all! Just make your post and head on over here to link it up to the rest of them.

 

 

Funny Money #WIPpetWednesday and #ROW80

I really must apologize for not visiting anyone last week. Between having a crappy weekend and then dealing and fighting with depression and illness, it wasn’t possible. Hopefully most of that is over now, or at least will be over by the end of today.

I’m going to try and make up for the days I haven’t written, which now include yesterday. Although, yesterday I came home from work after an hour and a half because I could barely even sit up in my chair. My secretary yelled at me for coming in at all. I feel much better now.

Here’s my ROW80 update.

  • write 1667 words a day
    • Sunday – 0
    • Monday – 2099
    • Tuesday – 0
  • Blog posts each week:ROW80,WIPpet, Open When, and 1 extra post
    • Got this and a few extra for the next two weeks! w00t!
  • Audio: Record/Edit a chapter a week
    • Not done

I have also been working on some promotional stuffs. So … you all get to hear about it now.

Memoir in the Making is being released soon. If you are an author of LGBT et al fiction, sign up for the release party! Free promo to you (pick more than one date). If you want to participate in the blog tour, here’s a sign up. It is a review only tour, so yeah, but LOADS of time to read it.

We’re also doing a blitz for Love is a Mess anthology along with exchanging guest posts through the authors, so you can look forward to that upcoming on my blog. I think that’s all the promo I’ve been setting up. That and getting swag ready. I really need to stop having two releases back to back. It about killed me last summer and I imagine it might this year as well.

Now for WIPpet Wednesday. I really do apologize for not visiting anyone. I try to get to all of you, but this was a hard week. So, I’m trying again this week. 11 short paragraphs from chapter 9, Funny Money. I get 11 because 1 + 2 + 8 = 11.

Grace pulled the free bill out from her pocket and looked it over again. “Is this what you paid for your meal with?”

“How do I know? I paid cash, yes, but I don’t know if that’s the bill I gave them or not.”

“Well, it is the bill you gave them. Lance, your waiter, took it directly to his manager when he noticed something wasn’t quite right with it.”

“What do you mean something’s not right with it?”

“Look closely.”

Grace held the bill up so he could see. After a few seconds he shook his head. “I see nothing wrong with it.”

“That’s interesting. I don’t remember you being a president.”

“What?”

Grace pointed to the picture on the front of it. “This is you. This is not a president. You made fake money with your own damn image on it. How stupid could you be?”

“This has to be a mistake.”

“No mistake.”

If you’re interested in joining ROW80, here’s the link to their website. If you’re interested in joining WIPpet Wednesdays, here are the rules and subsequent links. Rule 1: Make a blog post with your WIP (Work in Progress). Rule 2: Make your excerpt somehow relate to the date. Rule 3: link it up here. Rule 4: visit others and comment. We all love comments.

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!

A few days down, a ton more to go. #ROW80 & #WIPpetWednesday

Good morning all!

I’m excited to report that it’s the start of a new year and the start of a new round of ROW80, as if you didn’t already know that. A few days ago, Sunday I think, I started writing a short story for submission. It wasn’t quite going how I had planned it, but someone said to turn it into something else and it flew off! I finished it quickly, had it edited and now it’s off to submission. I can’t believe it. And I’m still creeped out by what I wrote.

Right now, I’m in debates as to whether or not to continue the story in a sense. Adding in a new main character, but still continuing what has happened into a full-length novel. Meanwhile, I’m back to focusing on Grace through Redemption. So perhaps I’ll have a new crime novel to replace the series I’m about to finish.

While my cats going insane behind me on their kittynip filled cat tree, I’m going to do my ROW80 update and then WIPpet Wednesday.

ROW80

  1. write 1667 words a day
    Monday – 2790
    Tuesday – 964
  2. Blog posts each week: ROW80, WIPpet, Open When, and 1 extra post
    Got this so far. My one extra post this week is another Open When to make up for some I missed in November and December. I’m almost done making them up.
  3. Audio: Record/Edit a chapter a week
    For my own sanity, I’m starting my weeks on Wednesday. So I haven’t done this one yet, but I have a whole week to get it done

I’m getting things accomplished which is the goal. I realized earlier this morning that I don’t have a day off this week, meaning I’m trying to juggle two extra days at work and all of this. I’m hoping it goes well over the weekend. We’ll see.

For those of you who were wondering what I was crocheting last round–here it is!

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WIPpet Wednesday!

WIPpet Wednesday is this amazing thing where writers from around the world get together and post snippets from their WIP (Work in Progress). They make the snippet correlate to the date in some form or fashion. They link it here and then we go and read as many of the other posts as we can. Join in!

For this week I have an excerpt from Grace through Redemption. I finally started in on chapter 2, and had I not been counseling a family with the loss of a father and planning the funeral, I would have gotten at least 1/3 through the chapter and a lot more done.

So here we are. From the chapter Tricks and Pranks. 6 paragraphs because 7 – 1 = 6

Without talking to anyone on her way to the bakery, Grace grabbed a container of six donuts and beelined it for the checkout station. The cashier rung her up, nodding and trying to make small talk. Grace had no desire to even continue the conversation. She was just heading out the front doors when there was a commotion.

Two preteen boys were at the register, and the cashier who had been oh so nice to Grace was checking them out. Eight dozen cartons of eggs. Grace pursed her lips and raced out to her cruiser. Shoving the car into gear after starting the engine, she drove to the corner of the store and waited for the preteen troublemakers to exit.

She had barely gotten into position when the double doors slid open, revealing one boy in raggedy jeans and another in perfect ones. Grace bit her lip and tightened the muscles in her shoulders and neck as she craned her head to see which direction they went. Surprisingly, they didn’t even leave the parking lot.

That early in the morning, the vehicles parked were mostly employees. In fact, as Grace glanced at the clock to double check the time, she was surprised preteen boys were even awake at eight in the morning. They settled some of the eggs in their pockets of their baggy jeans, their hoodies and in their hands. The rest of the cartons sat unused on the cold cement.

Grace waited. As soon as the first egg flew, she was ready to pounce. Her foot tapped against the floor of the cruiser, and she kept her eyes locked on the two troublemakers as much as she could as they danced around and joked with each other. The one in torn jeans fake threw an egg, trying to get the other kid to throw one first. Grace cursed and shook her head. Stupid, she thought.

The kid in nice jeans raised his arm, and she smirked. She was close. But she wanted them both, not just the one. Holding her breath high in her chest, Grace stared at them. Her hand was poised over the mouthpiece of the radio at her shoulder, her ankle straight as she smashed her foot down on the brake, prepared to switch it to gas as soon as the first milky white egg flew from one of their fingers.

OH! And if you didn’t already know. Fellow WIPpeteer, A. M. Leibowitz and I were accepted into an anthology back in December and it’s just released. It’s a Valentine’s Day themed book filled with short stories about how love is a mess.

If anyone is interested in reading & reviewing it, let me know and I’ll email an ARC for it. If you’re interested in purchasing it, well then, here’s the link to Amazon!

love is a mess coverLove is a Mess: A Supposed Crimes Anthology contains eight stories from eight authors on the topic of misfortune at Valentine’s Day. The topics range from the fun of the moment to the power of the eternal. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual characters star in their own love and lust stories–Erotic, playful, and thoughtful.

Viral Valentine by L. M. Perrin
Date Blind by Geonn Cannon
The Politician and the Pilot by Amber Kinsey
Bar Tryst by Rachael Orman
Quarter Life: Energy Feed by Adrian J. Smith
Property of Cupid by Eva Lefoy
Private Dance by A. M. Leibowitz
The Last Mitzvah by Michael DuPuy

 

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

The Third Level of Editing Hell and finally writing! #ROW80 & #WIPpetWednesday

ROW80! I’m making much more progress than I thought I would, which is really good.

1. Write 1667 words a day.

I’m still writing on this co-written thing, and we’re over 30k words now. Definitely between the two of us, adding about 2k words a day to it. I know I wrote 2k of that yesterday. I also wrote 2k on Grace through Redemption, a piece I’m writing by myself. That felt really good. I need to do that more often.

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

Doing this so far! Had Sundays ROW80 post and today’s ROW80/WIPpet post. I wrote and scheduled a post for Friday, so that leaves Open When…which I should just suck up and write when I’m at work today.

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

This is where most progress has been made. I don’t know if you know this, but I currently have 5 writerly type projects in the works right now, 3 of those in edits. I didn’t mention them all on Sunday because I was waiting for one back from editor/publisher and haven’t even thought about looking at the other one.

Well I had thought about looking at the other one until I checked my email this morning and had a copy-edit that’s 50k words long waiting for me. So … not happening now. Here’s a list of what I have going for editing and how much I did.

Spellbound – S.K. Hart – 5 chapters (7 to go)
Ella’s Love – Jasmine Lee – 10 chapters (13 to go)
The Delivery – Mara White – 50k words to go <==the one in my email this morning
Memoir in the Making – 26 chapters (0 to go) These were final edits I got back this week
Fallen from Grace – 0 chapters (16 to go) this is the one I need to look at
Unbound – finished first round edits by me, so 20 chapters since last Wed. Onto second round with beta, did 9 chapters with 19 to go
PTB – 1 chapter (0 to go) this is a website I beta read for
Love Mess Short – R. Orman – 2500 words to go, quick beta read

whew…I think that’s it, but I’m sure I forgot something.

4. crochet one round of border a week

I managed not a whole border so far this week, but I did manage to get half of one! Still have the rest of the week to finish this border! FINALLY progress on crocheting.

 

WIPpet Wednesday! Since I actually wrote this week on my own stuff (which feels excellent by the way), I get to share more with you from Grace through Redemption. I’ve officially finished the first chapter of the book. Thank God, because that chapter was hard to write. Now onto chapter 2! (The Grace books have 15 chapters plus a prologue, so that means I’ve made decent progress.)

Here’s the excerpt for today. From Chapter One: Of Thieves and Visionaries. I give you ten paragraphs for the day of the month. Remember, this is a completely rough draft; I haven’t looked at it since I wrote it.

She noticed him right off the bat. His pants were down to his knees and his shirt was three times too big. The baseball cap on his had was flat-billed and backward on his head. Grace’s stomach clenched as she watched, waiting for him to make his stupid move. She recognized him easily, had dealt with him before.

“Whatever happens,” Grace said, “stay in the car.”

“What?”

“Stay in the car. I don’t want to have you bleeding out on the ground.”

Jules turned to look at her. Grace felt her gaze, but she didn’t break her eye contact on the skinny kid with over-sized clothes. She tapped her toes against the bottom of her boot as she waited, patiently, for him to slip up. He was going to. The feeling in her gut told her Cole Opinuey was going to make one big mistake in about two seconds flat.

Pressing her foot on the brake, Grace put her car in gear and held her car still. Jules was looking around, trying to figure out whatever it was Grace was so focused on. Jules gasped, and Grace knew she’d seen Cole. He was across the street and stepped onto the sidewalk. Cole nodded his head to a passerby, and Grace’s stomach clenched. This was it.

They smacked hands, and she saw the flip of money and drugs. Stepping on her gas, she sped through the parking lot, checking for other pedestrians briefly before she pulled up on the side of the curb. Her lights were on, and Grace got out of the car when Cole tried to run.

She got out, shoving her door open as slush splashed up into her boots. Grace ignored it and took another step through the puddle, running after Cole as fast as she could. “Stop!” she yelled. “Hands up!”

He made it halfway down the block, when she sprung and tackled him to the ground. Cole stopped struggling two seconds into her knee being shoved into his back to hold him down. He put his hands out by his head and laid down on the cold cement.

“Cole Opinuey,” Grace said. “I thought you were still in prison.”

If you would like to join in WIPpet Wednesday, feel free! Create a blog post with an excerpt of your work in progress that somehow correlates to the date and link it up to the rest of them here. Then go around and check out the other blogs and leave a comment because we’re all comment whores. Got it? Good. =P

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.