1st Sunday Snippets: Almost

Last weekend I was on vacation in Victoria, BC. Love that city. Someday I'm going to have to write a story based in the city so I can have a "writing retreat" or "research trip" and then be able to write it off on my taxes. :P During our vacation we visited Victoria Butterfly Gardens. What a magical place. Complete with love ducks, which I thought was appropriate since we were celebrating our 7 year anniversary.

So I'm going to keep this short. I'm kinda under a bit of a writing crunch. I have 30K words left to write on my YA fantasy that I want to pitch at RWA nationals, which is in three weeks. *insert freakout here* Of course I've majorly procrastinated the last month, but I do work well under pressure.

Without farther ado, here's a snippet from my WIP. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by. *waves & dives back into writing cave*

***

“I did not trust you. I still am unsure if I do now.”

“Trust is earned,” I say, resting hands rest on his smooth tight chest. The warmth of his skin seeps into my palms. “And that takes time.”

“Mm.”

His gaze drifts down to my lips and I suck in my breath. The hunger in his eyes is unmistakable. He wants me. The skin of my face prickles in anticipation as his lowers head ever so slowly. I close my eyes awaiting the inevitable.

“Well, what have me here?”

I finch at booming voice behind me followed by a trio ultra high pitched whistles. The corners of my mouth brush that of the Prince’s, a groan of frustration escaping his lips.

1st Sunday Snippets: 2012

Rock Creek in December, view from main cabin window.

Happy 2012 Everyone!


Hope your holiday season was as fabulous as mine. I got two of the best presents EVER for Christmas-- a Droid 3 (from myself) and a Kindle Touch (from hubby). We spent Christmas weekend with friends and family. The week between Christmas and New Years we went to our little cabin in Eastern Oregon for some well-needed R & R, which in my case means sitting by the fire reading with a cup of hot coco in my hand.

Guess what I took with me?

My Kindle, of course! (Will talk more about e-readers next week.)

I bought six books to take with me:

The Hunger Games Trilogy (YA) by Suzanne Collins
Tempest Rising (YA) by Tracy Deebs
Radiant Desire (Adult) by Inara Scott
All I Want for Christmas (Adult) by Ros Clarke

I read the last two books of the Hunger Games Trilogy. Holy macaroni! I couldn't put them down for nothing. The only other books I've read that captured me this way are the Harry Potter and Twilight series. At night I would dream about the characters and the challenges they faced. During the day when I wasn't reading, every thought would lead to either Katnis, Peeta, or Haymitch. It's a good thing hubby already read them and loved them too, because for two days that is all that I talked about. What a brilliant series and a sweet ending.

I enjoyed the other books as well, but Hunger Games pretty much took the cake. If you haven't read them, shame on you!!!!

So it's the first of the year and usually people make resolutions around this time. For the last five or so years, I haven't bothered with resolutions, because well, they don't always work the way I would like them. What I've learned is to focus my intentions on something I would like to achieve and so far I've had better success.

This year my focus is on getting published. I'm super close. My writing has gotten so much better in the last 12 months. I see my mark and the distance is diminishing. The one hurdle I have to conquer is editing. I HATE editing, however, I know if I'm going to achieve my goal I must suck in my gut, straighten my back, sit my butt down, and freaking EDIT. All of yesterday leading to the New Years party, I sat down at my computer and editing my NANO project. So far I'm over 25% done, which by the way is the most I've ever accomplished on any of my manuscripts. Since that is what I'm focusing on at the present my snippet will be the first ten lines.

Scents of musty old soil surrounding the grave and the woodsy musk of the nearby forest tickle my nose. The chill in the air blends with the coldness of the rough stone pressing against my palms and thighs. Goosebumps ripple across my bare flesh. Where had the humid Romanian summer night gone? Right now it feels more like I've been thrown into an icebox than hiding behind a gravestone. Maybe the stories are true, this graveyard is haunted. 

Cool.

I grin like a silly girl in the dark. But only for a moment as I hear gravel crackling under the weight of footsteps. I let my body lie flat on the slab of stone covering the grave below me. It has the largest headstone of all the graves in the forbidden area, which makes it the perfect place to conceal myself.

Thanks so much for reading. Cheers,

Melania

Vacation, ah...

Greetings from a sweltering Pacific NW.

Now that summer is virtually over, it decided to finally show up. Maybe my tomatoes on the balcony will actually ripen before winter arrives. But I'm not complaining, because the rain and cold will be here soon. I'm one of those odd ducks that actually loves the descending moisture from the sky. Rain is magic. It waters the earth, keeps the foliage green, and cleans the air. It also keeps the neighbor's demon spawns indoors. (I love human offspring, but some specimens shouldn't procreate. But then I'm only god in the worlds I create in word documents.) Best thing about rain, it fills my well with bottomless creativity. Which is why I feel blessed everyday to live the beautiful Pacific NW.

Last post I mentioned I would be leaving the world of internet and cellphones. I did. It was MAGNIFICENT. Here are a few pictures of my rustic mini-vacation.

My retreat:

View looking down from the large picture window:

View looking up towards the mountains:

What I accomplished in my time at the cabin- wrote two chapters in my new WIP, read Delilah Marvelle's juicy historical romance Once upon a Scandal, and hand stitched the A, B, & Y on the blanket I'm making for one of my several prego friends.

The cabin has no electricity or running water. At night we would light oil lamps and get a fire roaring in the woodstove for heat. My little netbook has a long lasting battery and when it get down to about 20% I would plug it into the inverter/charger that I could insert into the cigarette lighter of the car. Because it doesn't draw too much power from the car battery, I could let it sit there for several hours till the laptop battery was fully charged. And that is how I got to indulge in my favorite creative hobby out in the middle of the wilderness. I do believe this lovely place has become my writer's retreat.

Thank you for visiting my little haven. Ta Ta for Now,

Melania

PS. DragonFlame, I still haven't heard from you. I need your address so I can get your prize to you. Please email me at melania (dot) tolan (at) gmail (dot) com Thank you.