1st Sunday Snippets: "I married her"

Mitzu & Earl

Today’s snippet comes from my contemporary adult Christmas novella (WIP). Derek & Meredith are on the tail end of their divorce. She’s moved out of the house. To help her heal her heart she decided to volunteer at the local civic theater as a make-up artist—something she used to love to do, but has forgotten over the years as life seemed to carry her in a different direction. While she’s taking inventory of the make-up and wardrobe room, in walks Derek. He’s accepted the lead role of the Christmas play they are putting on in a couple of months. He hasn’t done theater since college. This is the first time they’ve seen each other in a month.

***

“This isn’t a game.” She stepped around him, but he caught her arm and whirled her around to face him.

“You’re the one who always runs away from things, but this time, I’m not going to let you use me as an excuse.” He paused for a moment as his hand warmed from the heat of her flesh only separated by the thin cashmere sweater. “I will leave.”

“Who’s leaving?” A shrill voice came from the door. Both of them turn to find Silva, the theatre director, standing in the open doorway.

“I-.” Meredith began, but Derek cut her off.

“No, I’m going to decline my role. I’m sorry. Something came up.”

“Excuse me?” Silva put her fists on her hips. Her tight bun and cat-rimmed rhinestone encrusted glasses reminded him of his second grade teacher. “You practically spent the last hour begging me for the part and now you want to leave? I don’t think so. Unless there’s family dying, no.”

He noticed Meredith take a jarred gulp. He was about to say something, when Silva continued. “And do you two know each other? You both seem awfully cozy.”

At this Meredith took a step back just out of his reach. “Yeah, unfortunately. I’m sorry I’m going to leave know. If you can’t find someone to replace me I’ll help out, but I can’t do this.” She hurried out of the room as if a smoke bomb had gone off. She nearly knocked over the petite director in her rush to exit. 

As Meredith’s footsteps faded down the hallway, Silvia turned to Derek and narrowed her eyes. “What did you do to piss her off?”

He shrugged. “I married her.”

4th Sunday Surprise: Mermaids

I've been busting my tail feathers trying to help hubby finish the new flooring in the house, plus canning a bunch of stuff for winter, and finishing up my contest judging assignments, which means I haven't written a darn thing in weeks. Yes, I said I would take a break from writing, but it's so much part of my life that when I don't do it for a week, I start feeling a little crazy. It's all those silly characters in my head who get a little vocal when I don't tell their story, so much so that they think it's appropriate to wake me up at 2 in the morning. *sigh* It's all part of being an author.... 

Speaking of authors, one of my favorite spiritual authors is Doreen Virtue. She writes about working with the angels and elementals (fairies, mermaids, dolphins, unicorns, etc.) Her work is a source of inspiration when I write about the paranormal. I follow her on Facebook and Twitter and she posts videos about her mermaid adventures. Here’s one of them that I really like. It's a little long but so beautiful. Enjoy.

 

3rd Sunday Sweets: Wake by Amanda Hocking

First of all, I have to say I FRIGGEN LOVE Amanda Hocking’s books. My favorite is the Hollows series about a zombie apocalypse, a kick ass girl named Remy, and her pet lion, Ripley. Well, that was until I read Wake.

Wake is the first of the Watersong series. Blurb from Amazon: 

Photo courtesy of www.amandahocking.blogspot.com

Gorgeous. Fearless. Dangerous. They're the kind of girls you envy; the kind of girls you want to hate. Strangers in town for the summer, Penn, Lexi and Thea have caught everyone's attention—but it’s Gemma who’s attracted theirs.  She’s the one they’ve chosen to be part of their group.

Gemma seems to have it all—she’s carefree, pretty, and falling in love with Alex, the boy next door.  He’s always been just a friend, but this summer they’ve taken their relationship to the next level, and now there’s no going back.  Then one night, Gemma’s ordinary life changes forever.  She’s taking a late night swim under the stars when she finds Penn, Lexi and Thea partying on the cove.  They invite her to join them, and the next morning she wakes up on the beach feeling groggy and sick, knowing something is different.

Suddenly Gemma is stronger, faster, and more beautiful than ever. But her new powers come with a terrifying price.  And as she uncovers the truth, she’s is forced to choose between staying with those she loves—or entering a new world brimming with dark hungers and unimaginable secrets.

 This book kicks butt. It’s my favorite mermaid novel so far. It’s dark, sexy, and full of suspense while still maintaining the sweetness of the main character. I love the fact that both parents are still alive in this story, though the mother doesn’t live at home, and that Gemma gets in trouble for staying out too late, because that’s what happens to normal teenagers. This makes the story so much more believable than most paranormal YA tales selling these days.

Each character in the book is portrayed so beautifully you can’t help but sympathize with them. Even the siren-bitch-from-hell, Penn. I look forward to reading the rest of the series and am super happy I don’t have to wait a whole year cause book #2 comes out this winter. Get your copy here. And I leave you to enjoy the book trailer.

2nd Sunday Savors: Identity vs Essence

Oceanside, Oregon

As I mentioned in my RWA Recap post, I attended Michael Hauge’s workshop at the conference. The number one thing that sticks out from his class is Identity vs Essence, one of the key factors in demonstrating the hero/heroine’s journey.

Identity is the persona the character wants others to believe he or she is and many times believes this is who they are. Essence is who they REALLY are buried underneath the walls and shields they’ve erected over the years. Identity is who the character is at the beginning of their journey and Essence is who they are at the end when they’ve shed all their layers.

Everything that happens in between challenges their identity and eventually leading to essence. In romance, the guy the girl is with at the beginning of the story usually fits her identity, but the guy she ends up with is true to her essence.

Also Identity is a result of a wound from the past. Something happened to the character to cause them to be a particular way. For example a girl looks for a man with a steady well-paying job, because her father never could hold one down while growing up and her mother was forced to work all the time.

This concept changed how I approached the revision on my WIP especially as I’m a pantser. Before I used to have things happening to my heroine for the sake of adventure, but it did nothing to move her inner journey forward. Now when I’m thinking about the next scene I’m going to write or revise, I ask myself “What is this event going to reveal about my character’s strengths or flaws?”

For more information about Michael Hauge workshops and books check out his website www.storymastery.com Thanks so much for stopping by. 

PS. You may have noticed I changed the blog address. It used to be nw fantasy writer, but I write more than just fantasy now. I decided it was time to claim my author name and changed it. If you go to my old address it will redirect you here.

1st Sunday Snippet: Fins

Happy Labor Day weekend. Hope y’all are doing something fun. I just finished canning 10 pints of pickled green beans & 10 ½ pints of wild berry jam…er…syrup—kinda messed up on the pectin. I can’t believe it’s September already. Where did the summer go? What did I do all summer? *scratches head* Oh well, I love fall, because life seems to settle down and my favorite holidays are just around the corner. But as things slow down, my writing is picking up. I’m currently revising my first mermaid novel, finishing up an adult Christmas novella, and starting a new contemporary YA series. Yeah, I’m crazy. I’ll be keeping my posts fairly short and won’t be doing Friday Fictioneers anymore (even though I absolutely love doing flash fiction).

With that I’m also taking a break from writing this month because we are putting in new floors & my house looks like a construction war zone—NOT conducive to creativity. I’m going to use this time to can, cook, & freeze food I’ll need to eat when I get back into my writing next month. I’m also planning to spending time with friends and family who I’ll be ignoring come October 1. Being a writer is about balance. Sometimes you need to step away from the computer and fill your life with the things that feed that creative spirit.

Today’s Snippet is from the YA mermaid novel. Lorelei just woke up in the Temple of Atlantis where her spirit is trapped in a new body. The priestess has ordered her to be put in a tank.

***

It took a total of three rounds of swimming before I realize that the burning in my throat and lungs have long ceased. I’m breathing underwater. A mixture of calming relief and fiery panic fills every cell of my body as I inhale a lungful of water. As I slowly exhale, I note the small bubbles trickling out of my nose. It’s as refreshing as taking the deepest breath of air first thing in the morning.

“What the hell?” I say, my voice echoing through the tank as if I were inside a large room and not underwater.

I look at the faces lining the outside of the swimming pool-sized aquarium. Smiles break out on each of them, some are even laughing—not at me, but for joy. I gaze up toward the holy lady and Lucian. Both are clapping and look generally pleased.

How can they be happy about this? And what’s in this water that allows me to breathe it in like air? I look down at my body and gasp. My head spins in a woozy spiral.  I’m naked from top up, but that’s not what shocks me. It’s when I see the perfect set of tail fins on the end of my scaly “blanket” that I faint.