Tag: snippet

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.

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

 

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

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.

Such a travesty … #WIPpetWednesday & #ROW80

So I haven’t really written since last Saturday–like at all. I’ve been busy with an assembly, with church stuffs and with working my regular job, and just with being plain exhausted. I’m hoping to change the outcome of this since I went to be around ten last night but only the rest of today will tell. I’m tired of being tired.

I also don’t really have any one project to work on. NaNoWriMo starts this coming Saturday, and since I’m clearly nowhere near finishing the project I was working on, I’m debating on what to do. I can easily do NaNo and this project at the same time until I finish it. It would mean writing about 4,000 words a day for awhile, but I could do it.

So what do you think?

4,000 words a day to finish Amya’s Take Out and start my NaNo novel

OR

Just focus on NaNo and come back to Amya’s Take Out

I do want to mention that both my NaNo novel, Grace through Redemption, and this project, Amya’s Take Out are in the same universe, so it’s not like I have that to deal with. One is just more action than the other.

On top of all of this, I have a 50,000 word copy edit sitting in my inbox and another one coming in about 15 days. It’s going to be very interesting to try and keep up with all of this as well as Advent, and I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed about it. Anyway, enough about this. Let me get to the real update.

1. Write 1667 words a day.

I’ve written nothing…

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

Did this so far! Extra post this week is a guest post from Ruth Nestvold, and I still have to write my Open When.

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

I did a beta this week for a zombie story, and I did 2 chapters of my own, Unbound, to send to second run beta, and then I did a beta chapter for a friend.

4. crochet one round of border a week

Have not done this…*sigh* I’m really going to get to get on this one if it’s going to be a Christmas project.

ONTO WIPPET!

WIPpet Wednesday is wonderful thing where we get together and share excerpts from out WIP (Work In Progress). The only hard fast rule is that the excerpt has to in some way relate to the date. Then you go and post your excerpt on this linky do thingy here and read the rest of the awesome WIPpets.

My math for today — this is the beginning of Amya’s Take Out and comes from the first short story in it called “Flirtatious Jive”. 10+2 + [(2×4+1) – 9] = 12

So here we go. And much against what I said in my ROW80 update on Sunday, this is a romantic novella and is heavily on the romance side of things. PS This is the project I want to be working on alongside with NaNoWriMo.

Amya’s body buzzed. She hummed as she wandered back home through the streets, vibrating with each step. She sighed when she reached the first corner and leaned against the brick wall. The bar was an entire block away, and Grace…she sighed again…Sheriff’s Deputy Grace Halling was well on her way home. Amya smiled and lifted her hand, fluttering her fingers over her lips.

It was perfect. Well, not perfect, but it was perfect for them. She chuckled and started walking again after pushing off the wall and wrapping her jacket tighter around her waist. It truly was close to a perfect moment. If she closed her eyes, she could see Grace laughing and enjoying herself, the atmosphere of the bar fading into the background. They were drinking, listening to a band that would never make it, and having a grand time while they passed the hours. She smiled again, brushing her hands over her lips one more time, remembering the feel of Grace’s pressed up against hers.

There you have it! See you all next week!

Big Bird Mania #WIPpetWednesday #ROW80

Hey all! So I’ve taken it pretty easy this past weekend. After finding out a friend died on Friday morning and finishing my novel that same day, I really just needed a break from life in general, so I took it easy. I didn’t write for two whole days! *gasp* I know! That never happens!

Here’s my ROW80 update!

1. Write 1667 words a day, like NaNo.

Sunday: 0
Monday: 277
Tuesday: 2126

As you can see, I didn’t really hit my goal on Monday, but I did do some writing and reading over what I had written to catch back up to where I was. This is the issue when I go back to writing a piece I haven’t looked at in awhile.

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

All done/scheduled for this week since I’ll be out of town Friday and Saturday

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

not yet

4. crochet one round of border a week

not yet…on my to do list for tomorrow though!

and onto WIPpet! I finished my novel, but I do still have the companion short story to go with it, so I’ve been very slowly working on that. Thanks to Kate for lending me her mojo this afternoon for a few hours!

My math this week is awesome. This is from chapter 37 of Unbound and is 165 words of fun. My math? 201 – 10 – 22 – 4 = 165. There! Simple! Here we go. The context is they went to get a creature, it escaped, and now they’re chasing it. Faye has just fallen to the ground because of screeching from this magnificent bird-like thingy that has no name yet.

“Get up!” he yelled.

Once she made out the words, Faye pushed up from the ground slowly, her head and ears still aching. Joel was yelling at her again, but she couldn’t move any faster. The creature charged, but Joel held his line. Before Faye could knock him out of harms way, Amelia appeared and fired her own gun. Apparently Faye had been the only one not issued a weapon. She snarled and glared. She had a weapon of her own.

The tingles that had been racing up and down her spine were at a breaking point. Faye tapped into them and let them spring through her body. She hissed as her fangs appeared and her nails grew. She cracked her neck and stared at Big Bird as he faltered a step when Amelia put another bullet into him. Joel looked over her shoulder and his eyes widened.

“Shit,” he muttered.

“Watch out, Big Bird. I’m coming,” Faye said, her voice far lower than normal.

And that, my friends, is the end! Catch you on the flip side!

Disgust in One’s self #WIPpetWednesday

Hello all! It’s evening here, and I’m writing this post early, but I normally do. I have internet tomorrow, so I should be able to keep up with everyone’s post throughout the day. Yay!

To cut to the chase. I’ve been writing a lot lately. I haven’t quite managed to write every day, but I have at least managed to keep up in my goal of a word count. Mostly because of days like today where I write almost 7k words to make up for not writing the entire weekend. My weeks just seem to be getting busier and busier as they go along.

My goal is still to finished Quarter Life: Unbound by the end of October, and thank God! I’m on track to do that. I’m starting to think about my NaNo Project, which means at least plotting out the first few chapters in my head.

Anyway…onto WIPpet. Here’s my excerpt for the day from Quarter Life: Unbound. Now, I changed my MC’s name. Long story as to why, but it needed to happen. So now Faye=Emma. Same character, new name. This follows the chapter with the Troll from last week. You get 1 paragraph for the first of the month. My math is so easy today.

Here we go…

Mike breathed heavily on her, the air flowing from his mouth over her chest. Faye shifted slightly to a more comfortable position. The smell of his blood dominated her thoughts. She hated drinking from humans. It felt wrong to her, like a violation of trust. Most of them didn’t know she existed, yet she still preyed on them like animals. And they weren’t animals, they were intelligent monsters just like those in her own family line.

Hope you enjoyed! Check out other WIPpeteers here.

The troll under the bridge… #WIPpetWednesday

Hello all! It’s been 4 weeks since I’ve posted last! Insanity, I say! Well, I’m back and I’m ready to post. It’s also been awhile since I’ve written. Talking with my publisher last night has instilled in me the need to write yet again (although, it might have been instilled before then, but it’s going to happen now).

I don’t know if I’ve ever shared this, but I do have a writing goal per year. My goal is to publish 2-3 books a year, and thus far I’ve maintained that. But in 2015, I only have 1 book ready for publishing. Unfortunately, this means I need to get my ass in gear. Like seriously in gear.

So I have new goals. I did also drop off the ROW80 bandwagon, and it’s pretty much over for this round, so when the next round starts, I’ll be joining in that again. For now I have 3 goals until this end of the year.

1. Write 1 chapter of Quarter Life: Unbound every day. My goal was to write 1667 words (like fake NaNo) every day, but I think it’s just easier on my mind to do one chapter. The chapters in this novel are only about 2,000 words each anyway, so what’s a little more going to hurt? =P This will be finished just before NaNoWriMo.

2. Write a short story for submission to an anthology which is an introduction to Emma from the Quarter Life series. The story needs to be 8k-15k words, and guess what!? I already have the plot in my head.

3. During NaNoWriMo get at least 50k words written on Grace through Redemption, finish the novel if at all possible. If I don’t finish the novel during NaNo, then I’ll finish it during December and hopefully have it ready for publication late in 2015. If not, Unbound will be there for 2015 and I’ll have 2 novels for my goal!

I’m sharing my goals with you all so you can yell at me when I’m not working and hold me accountable.

As for WIPpet Wednesday, I’m finally getting to it, since I’m working on writing Unbound again and since I’ve finally made some good significant progress, I’m going to share from it. My math is simple today 30 short sentences. 24 +2 + 4 = 30

I wrote this yesterday morning in a writing sprint, and I’m absolutely in love with it. So here’s an excerpt from chapter 13 of Unbound. Emma has snuck out of the house, she isn’t sure if she’s going back due to something that happened, and she needs to get her “energy” fix. She’s trying to find her dealer. So here you go…the fantastical world Emma lives in come to life.

Heading down to the old part of town, Emma walked in the light rain. It drizzled on her face, soaking her sweatshirt and hair with the mist. She was drenched by the time she got to the bridge where she knew the troll lived.

Sneering, Emma slipped under the far end of it and leaned against the cement support. She took two deep breaths before turning around to face the carved troll and lifted her cheeks to his eyes.

“Hello, my friend,” she stated. She’d only come here once or twice before, but the troll would know what she needed to find.

The stone cracked and ground as it moved, the troll’s face becoming animated s it broke away the shield of the day. Emma didn’t gasp this time as she had the first. She didn’t turn and run. Instead, she stood her ground and waited.

“My friend,” he said, his voice deep. “Come to find some more elixir?”

“You know it! Do you know where he is this evening? It’s been awhile since I’ve seen him.”

“Indeed, it has,” the troll answered. “He has changed his hiding place.”

Emma nodded, wishing the troll would speak faster. It was as if everything was in slow motion with him to a point where she was near falling asleep sometimes while she waited for his answer.

“He is down by the market. Far side. Red cap, as always.”

Emma smiled and bowed her head slightly. “Anything you desire from him?”

“Oh no,” the troll smiled but it looked more like a grimace. “He brings me mine.”

“All right,” she said. Crawling up on the troll’s arms and body to his head, Emma patted his cheek before she pressed her lips to his rough, stoney skin. “Until next time, my friend.”

IMG_6717.JPG modeled after the troll under the Freemont Street Bridge in Seattle, Washington

Thanks for coming and reading! If you’re interested in participating in WIPpet, it’s pretty easy. Share an excerpt of your WIP (Work in Progress) and somehow make it correlate to the date. Then you go to this linky here and link it up with the others. Make sure you check some of the other writers out to show your support! Thanks to Kathi as always for hosting.

A New WIPpet! #WIPpetWednesday and #ROW80 update

Well…I finished my novel! Yay! So that means I’m editing it, so still technically a WIP, but I’m going to start posting from Emma again. I finally have a title for it, not sure if I ever shared that. This novel has about 34,000 words written and I think it’ll end up being around 90,000 for the whole novel. It’s a third done and my goal is to finish it BEFORE NaNoWriMo. I want to write Grace through Redemption for NaNo. But I’m getting married in a few weeks, so I’m not quite sure how that’s going to work out.

Anyway, I’m going to do ROW80 update first.

1. Lovely, Dark, and Deep short story needs to be written by Aug 31st. 2k words a week.

2. Post-Apocalyptic/Zombie short story needs to be written by Sept 27th. 2k words a week.

3. Editing Fallen from Grace. 3 chapters a week.

I haven’t done anything except the third goal. I did finish my three chapters this week. I’m thinking I need to up it so I can finish editing before I get married. I think I’ll keep this as the goal and try to do extra! =P

 

For WIPpet.

I do not in anyway remember what I posted from this previously. So here’s a snippet from chapter 13, which is the last completely written chapter. 6 short paragraphs after some shit went down =P Molly and Emma are talking it out. (Yes, I’m aware Emma is called Caroline. I think that’ll be confusing until people read the whole novel. She’s lying about her identity, so when from Molly’s POV, Emma is referred to as Caroline.) My math is easy this week 20 (for the day) – (14 for the year) = 6.

The title of the series is Quarter Life, and the title of this book is Unbound. =D

Molly waited patiently until Caroline was calmed down enough to start talking again. Amachon was still nowhere to be seen, and she knew he would not return until she was done or until Joel woke up. Sliding a stool over so that she could sit, Molly waited a few more seconds before asking Caroline to continue.

“After that?” Caroline said. “I don’t really remember exactly. Chloroform—I remember the smell. Then I kind of woke up a little bit and realized we’d been drugged. Everything was so slow. And dark.”

“What happened?”

“Kirill.”

Molly remained silent as did Caroline. There was little need for an explanation as to why. Molly had essentially stolen for Kirill in his mind and thus he would steal from her. That was explanation enough for him. If she hadn’t done it, hadn’t allowed Jelena and her sons into her home and offered to hide them, Caroline would not have been put in danger.

It was one thing for Joel to be put in danger; he was her employee and knew the circumstances surrounding her work. Caroline was there by default of being too close to the situation in general. None of this should have happened to Caroline, and it was entirely Molly’s fault.

Playing with words #WIPpetWednesday and #ROW80

Let’s do ROW80 update first today.

 

1. Fallen from Grace: write 1 chapter a week (moving week excluded)

FINISHED!! Cue the chimes! Ring the bell! Throw the confetti!! I’m FINISHED!

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

Time to get cracking on this.

5. Paranormal Romance short story 2k/day due Aug 9th

Since I’ve finished most of my goals for this round, I’m going to make new goals.

1. Lovely, Dark, and Deep short story needs to be written by Aug 31st. 2k words a week.

2. Post-Apocalyptic/Zombie short story needs to be written by Sept 27th. 2k words a week.

3. Editing Fallen from Grace. 3 chapters a week.

yayayayayayayayayayayayayay!

Also…

Today is cover reveal day for Ashes Fall! I’ve already given a bit of a preview of it, but I’ll post it and two teasers I made up.

Ashes2finalAshesFallTeaser1 AshesFallTeaser3

This book will be released on September 1st!

Okay…now onto WIPpet.

I was told last week, after I had posted last week, by my beta reader that I needed to post this excerpt. If you get the reference, you get bonus points for the day! Today I give you 13 short paragraphs from chapter 12.

She fired up her computer as she sat outside the house with her lights no longer on. Opening a new report, Grace filled in all the appropriate information before clicking “Report Complete” at the bottom of the screen. Her stomach growled as she put her cruiser in drive, and Grace decided to hit the diner for lunch before it closed. Not being one for driving while talking on the phone, Grace put her car back in park and called the top number on her favorites list in her phone.

“This is Ruby’s.”

“Hey, Sueanne. I wanted to place an order for pick up.”

“Go ahead with it.”

“I’d like a healthy dose of hash and scrambled, dry. Also two sides of toast, white with not butter, and four packets of strawberry jelly.”

“Grace?”

“Yup, that’s me.”

Sueanne giggled. “I should have known it was you. I’ll have them put in an order for chocolate milk too.”

“Thanks!”

“Total is seven o’ nine.”

“That’s it?”

“It’s a special.”

Grace smiled, said her thanks and hung up. She would have fifteen minutes before it was ready to be picked up, but that wasn’t a long way. She drove through the neighborhood to give it a quick check before heading over to the diner to pick up her meal. She’d eat in her car, not wanting to talk to more people than necessary.

The Seventh Commandment — WIPpet Wednesday in style

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about this novel series, it’s that people really like Peter. Peter is a bit troubled, but he has a great sense of innocence about him! He’s seen a lot in his short life, but he’s a character.

The chapter I’ve been working on has Peter in it. And I can’t tell you how many readers have told me they love Peter. So Peter’s gotta keep on showing up!

Here’s 8 paragraphs from chapter 14 of Fallen from Grace! That’s my easy WIPpet math for today.

“‘A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” … The Samaritan woman therefore said to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have give you living water.”’ This is my favorite part,” Peter added.

“Uh huh,” Grace reverted back to her earlier statements.

“He’s talking about the water of life, the wellspring of life that comes with faith and believing. It’s such an amazing gift to have.”

Grace muttered, “I’m sure.”

Peter bounced in his seat as he continued. Grace ignored him as much as possible and pushed her foot down on the gas peddle to get to the school faster.

“God gives us the living water, and that’s how we keep going when it gets rough. We always know God is there for us, healing us, saving us, comforting us. It’s just perfect isn’t it? A water that never dies and will never dry up and make us thirsty.”

Grace sighed. “It’s great for those who believe in it, Peter.”

She bit her tongue when the tension in the car clustered together and made it hard to breathe. She hadn’t meant to be so short with him, but her patience had been worn thin over the past month. Licking her lips and slipping him a glance, Grace went to apologize.

70a86-awccover

Pssssst!! For my WIPpeteers, since my ROW80ers already got the announcement.

Across Worlds: Collision is released!

*cough* It goes on tour today too!

Amazon USA
Amazon UK
Amazon CA
iTunes
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords
Kobo

 

 

 

Onto a ROW80 update!

1. Fallen from Grace: write 1 chapter a week (moving week excluded) — I wrote chapter 13 this week, and I’m working on chapter 14. I hope to have this novel finished being written by the end of the day on Friday. My lovely betas are on chapter 11! So I have to finish it otherwise they’ll be waiting impatiently!
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 — still haven’t started working on this one at all. Once Grace is done, then I’ll do it!

5. Paranormal Romance short story 2k/day due Aug 9th — I’ve unfortunately given up on this. It’s August 6th and the piece still only has 2,000 words in it. It will not be finished in time for submission.

 

 

Circus Act #WIPpet Wednesday and a #ROW80 update

A ROW80 update first.

1. Fallen from Grace: write 1 chapter a week (moving week excluded) — I haven’t finished the chapter yet, but I am making progress. This novel is weird in that I have some really long chapters and some really short chapters. It was planned that way and was the same way in the previous novel in the series, but it still means that I can’t really sit down and write a whole chapter in one sitting. I thought I would have time and energy to write on Sunday, but I didn’t. I had 4 services to preach at in one day, and it was just plain exhausting. Monday I was still recuperating from that. Hopefully Wednesday and Thursday I’ll get some good writing time in.
2. Promo: Answer three interview questions a day until done — finished
3. Promo: Write out a guest post a week until done — finished
4. Lovely, Dark, and Deep short story needs to be written/plotted 2k a day due Aug 31st — I still haven’t started this. I’m going to get to get on it sooner rather than later. It’s 20k words! eep!!
5. Paranormal Romance short story 2k/day due Aug 9th — We’re still plowing through this. Our plan is to finish it this week. We have writing time set aside for today and tomorrow, and if we don’t finish it together, we’ll just have to write separately (which isn’t as fun, but it needs to be done for beta reading). At this point, we’re still only at just about 2,000 words.

Onto WIPpet.

If you don’t know what WIPpet is, I’m going to explain it. A WIPpet is a snippet of your WIP (Work In Progress). You post this snippet on your blog, then you link it up to all the others, and you check out some other awesome writers. We have all kinds of genres going here, so check them all out! Oh! Did I mention your snippet has to be related to the date somehow? Hmmm…I didn’t forget that. Feel free to get crazy with your math or keep it simple.

This was a crazy hard choice to make this week. You’re getting 3 paragraphs from my 11th chapter in Fallen from Grace. It’s not a fun chapter at all.  My math is simple 3 for the 3 in 30. Grace was called out to a park for a stabbing…She’s just gotten to the scene and the sea of people parted easily.

Grace let out a breath and checked the man’s body. There was a knife protruding from his side just below his ribs, blood seeping out onto the light colored cement below. She didn’t dare move the instrument for fear he would completely bleed out.

She checked his pulse and then opened his eyes; he was definitely unconscious. Morgan arrived out of breath with Johnson followed closely behind. She glanced up at the other officers and pointed down the man on the ground. Grace got up, being replaced by Johnson, and went to the child crying and the other man by the drinking fountains. Her feet dragged. There was nothing good about this situation at all, nothing good could come of it.

The man by the fountains stepped out, his chest puffing up as he shuffled the boy behind him. Grace knew in that instant the child was his. It was a classic protective move, and something had happened. Her stomach knotted and twisted as she took another step forward, everything moving in slow motion as she walked closer to who she suspected was the victim and the offender.

Thanks for joining today!

#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!

 

So excited! I just can’t hide it! #WIPpet & #ROW80 update

So I’m writing this post on Monday because I’m so damn excited and I can’t wait to share. I actually did some massive writing last night. As in, I wrote about 4,000 words in the span of 5 hours, with an hour break in there to watch the newest episode of Sister Wives (yes, I know, that’s another discussion topic for a later time and date).

Since I was writing, I have a great and fantastic excerpt to share. Poor Amy had to deal with me last night and my excitement and me sharing a top of excerpts with her as I went along. Thanks Amy!

I’ve been writing on Fallen from Grace. I’ve also joined up with #ROW80 this round. It’s my first time *bites nails* You get an excerpt from Fallen from Grace this week, book 2 in the Spirit of Grace series, and hopefully to be released BEFORE June 2015, but if not, June works. Anyway, I’m rambling now.

Just an FYI. I probably won’t be here next week. I’ll be in the middle of finalizing packing to move from Texas to Kansas. EEEeeek. That came up so fast.

Okay, so here’s the excerpt from Fallen from Grace. It’s from a chapter called Animaniac. I really wish I could just pick the whole last part of the chapter because I love it. My math is simple, though I tried to find a complicated way and gave up. You’re getting 5 paragraphs from this chapter. 9-4 = 5. Voila!

What you need to know is that Grace was called to a hoarders house by Animal Control. He’s known for being violent and they had a seizure warrant for all animals on property so they asked for police assistance. Grace’s backup said he was “allergic” to cats, so she’s on her own as she goes through the house to find the guy.

Grace moved closer to the bed and feared finding more kittens. With the amount of cats, she’d already seen there were no doubt litters all over the place–it was spring after all, and thus mating season for cats. Grace didn’t call out his name again as she rounded the corner of the bed. She put the light on the ground to guide her as she walked over and gasped.

Barry was laid out on the floor, his large body backside up and in dirty sweats. There was skin missing from his face and exposed legs where his shorts didn’t cover. His hands, where the sweatshirt didn’t cover his skin, was also eaten. Grace held back her revulsion as she inched closer. She had to check, had to see if he was truly dead.

She squinted and reached into her back pouch to grab purple gloves. She put one on her left hand and held the mag light in her right. She shone the light on his face and kneeled on the shit covered and piss drenched mattress so she could lean over and find his neck. Pushing down the collar of his sweatshirt, Grace found his dark skin untouched by cat teeth. Groaning, she reached forward and pressed two fingers to his neck. Nothing. His skin was cold, his body rigid. She couldn’t move him.

Grace stood up as quickly as possible and headed out of the room. She had to call it in, but she had to get out first. She caught Julia and Charles as they came in through the front door with crates in their grasp, thick gloves on their fingers and breathing masks on their faces. Grace shook her head and pointed them out of the building.

Running to the side of the house, Grace held herself up as she puked up the rest of her meal. Hinds came over quickly as did the other Animal Control workers. She was handed water by someone, and Grace chugged half of it before dumping the rest over her head. Her blonde hair stuck to her face and covered her eyes, but she didn’t care. She whipped out her hand sanitizer and washed her hands, shaking her head all the while.

And that be my WIPpet post!

 

Also…I joined #ROW80 so that means update time!ROW80Logocopy

I have more than three goals because I’m insane, and somehow, I think I might actually accomplish them all. Here are the goals yet again.

1. Fallen from Grace: write 1 chapter a week (moving week excluded): Did this! Chapter 8 “Animaniac” was completed, hoping for a second chapter to get done this week if I’m lucky, it’s called “Probation Station”.
2. Promo: Answer three interview questions a day until done: Did this! about 30 more questions to answer
3. Promo: Write out a guest post a week until done: Did this! This weeks was on How to Write a Believable Character
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: Plotted out a bit of it and will write a good chunk Thursday. This turned into a co-written story, so on days we do write, we’ll get 2k-5k words in probably. But the days will be few with many in between.

 

A brand new WIPpet for a …. month that’s just ending?

I’ve actually be doing some writing lately! It’s been so nice to be writing and NOT editing. w00t! However, I’m still not writing on what I should be writing, which is Fallen from Grace. I’ll take that on as soon as I finish either this current short or…maybe two more. Ashes Fall is officially with the publisher, and I’m hoping I’m not sent another round of edits.

I’ve also stepped out of my comfort zone with a short story I co-wrote last week and started editing this week. It’s tentacle erotica. And my fiance informs me that this is actually a thing, it’s called Hentai, and I’m finding through talking about it that A LOT of people actually read/watch Hentai. Go figure! It’s a short story to be submitted and hopefully accepts into an anthology.

The second short story currently in process is a scifi lesbian piece that’s supposed to be non-erotica, but oh my gosh, all the opportunities are there to make it erotic! I’m resisting though. This one is also to be submitted to an anthology, but this submission is due July 5! Eek! I’ll need some beta readers for it, so if anyone is interested, please let me know!

The WIPpet today is from this scifi lesbian short story. My math is very simple, 6 paragraphs for the month of June. You’ll get the first six paragraphs in the either piece. It’s also completely unedited, so I apologize. The main character’s name is subject to change, but the current name is helping me envision her.

Her bare feet pounded against the packed, dry dirt as she raced through the woods. Trees snagged in her hair, pulling out the dark, brown strands as she dared not stop to untangle it. Laila breathed heavily, fogging up the goggles situated over her eyes. Reaching up, she wiped it off to see better and cleared her vision just in time to see the tree branch swinging in her direction.

Laila ducked down, the branch brushing against the top of her head and getting caught in her nappy hair. She gasped as she pushed up from the dirt and stumbled as she pushed forward. Her heart ratcheted in her throat as she continued forward, not daring to look back.

She pressed her palm to the tree when the ground beneath her tilted. Her head spun and her body lost its balance, knocking her over onto her butt. Pulling herself up to lean against the base of the tree, Laila gasped for breath as she pressed a hand to her ribcage. Pain swelled in her chest as she desperately begged for air to enter her lungs.

Loud bangs echoed through the woods, crashes as what was chasing her edged closer. Laila scrunched her nose and forced her sore and aching body to move. She stood up and leaned against the tree base, pushing onward. Risking a glance back, Laila’s goggles confirmed what she could not see by naked eye.

Green lines formed the enemy, following its line of movement as it continued in her direction. Red flashed in the corner to let her know the proximity was too close. Had she had time, Laila would have uttered a snarky comment. Instead, she stepped over a wayward tree root, her heel hitting the back of it and scraping the skin off. She winced and cried out but kept moving even as the blood trickled onto the ground.

She would have to make it stop bleeding if she really wanted to get away—it was just another trail for the monstrosity to follow. Laila looked forward, her goggles creating a path for her to take so she could get away more quickly. With her hand still at her side, Laila pushed onward through the tall trees.

Now that I’ve rambled on enough and given you an excerpt! Please join in! If you would like to join in WIPpet Wednesdays, it’s simple and open to all. Just post an excerpt from your current WIP (Work In Progress) and have it in some way correlate with the date or be the start of a new piece. Then link it up here, go and read the other posts, comment and voila! Fin!

Merci a K. L Schwengel!

I’m well aware my French sucks. =P

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.