Nancy Gideon's Blog, page 46

IWSG: Ready or Not!

Our topic for this month's Insecure Writers' Support Group is "When do you know your story is ready?" My pat answer has always been, stop when your edits are just making it different, not better. There's no end to how many different roads your story can take (just ask Google Maps!) so if you don't pick one and stay with it until you reach your destination, you can circle the same neighborhood forever.

But more often than not, deadlines, like oven timers, are often our signal that our stories are ready (or not!) to submit. There simply isn't another minute for a quick read through or last format check. It's got to go, and it's got to go NOW! I always tell myself I won't be in that last minute position again, but despite best laid plans, here I am trying to get my long overdue project, PRINCE OF HONOR , out the door and onto the virtual shelves in the next two weeks. I mean I really, really love planning and organizing and details and being hands on, but give me those olden days when offering a bookmark if they sent an SASE was as far as I had to go once I proofed my galleys.

That was when being an author was just about writing the book.

Lately, as I venture farther into the world of self-pubbing, the focus isn't on the story anymore. It's about all the trimmings like cover and blurb and PR kit. It's about timing release info and scheduling blogging events and preorders. The story almost becomes lost under the pile of peripherals that some unnamed person in New York used to handle for my titles. But now it's up to me to learn how to do it, or find someone to do it for me. And it's exhausting.

I'd like to say once this latest child ventures into the world I can kick back and take a breather. But no, book two in my new four book House of Terriot shape-shifter spin-off series is already breathing down my neck with things I must attend to. Right now.

Ready or not . . .


The Insecure Writer’s Support Group
Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time.

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Twitter hashtag is #IWSG 

IWSG awesome co-hosts for the October 5th posting will be Beverly Stowe McClure, Megan Morgan, Viola Fury, Madeline Mora-Summonte, Angela Wooldridge, and Susan Gourley!

WeWriWa: In The Beginning . . . (and on SALE!)

While finishing up Book 2 in my new House of Terriot spin-off and getting ready to release Book 1, today I’m looking back at where it all started, when strutty, arrogant, rock-n-roll prince, Cale Terriot first appeared in my By Moonlight shape-shifter series and quickly became one of my favorite characters. PRINCE OF SHADOWS , an e-book only from Pocket/Simon & Schuster, introduced the dangerous and delicious Terriot clan to readers as their brutal mad king sought his successor from amongst his twelve battling sons, with a delicate prize for the winner. Here’s a glimpse (edited for 8-10 line limitations) . . .

They arrived with flash and fanfare, the women like celebrities in the obscenely long limo, their men in a surrounding entourage of Jeeps and muscular off-road bikes. Fawning club staff rushed to assist the ladies from the vehicle, but were elbowed aside by the bristling cadre of protectors who immediately circled their females to escort them inside. 

The crowded club’s patrons stared as they passed, the females appreciated for their style and beauty, the brutally handsome Terriot men ogled as if they were rock gods, while the owners, seeing dollar signs, rushed to make them welcome. A section was cleared for their party, the women seated with deference in large booth where they couldn’t be easily approached . . . not without going through a wall of fiercely territorial testosterone. 

To Kendra, the mood was magical, her in her glamorous sexy clothes and evening makeup, their beefy protectors cleaned up and decked out in tailored jackets and drop-dead gorgeous with their formidable scowls, strobing lights dazzled off hundreds of reflective surfaces, music spun by a popular DJ loud and pulsing with exuberant energy, making her come alive with anticipation, humming with wonder and excitement, waiting for something to happen . . . and waiting as hours ticked by. 

“What’s up with this?” Kendra asked, looked from their isolated little corral of females to the Terriot males circulating freely and making aggressive use of body language on the dance floor with every responsive human in a short skirt. Her narrowed stare snagged on Cale Terriot palming the backside of a redhead who seemed determined to crawl into his suit jacket with him. His gaze lifted, the smirky grin on his face freezing when their stares connected and held for an intense beat too long for comfort. 

“They like to show us off,” Sylvia grumbled, equally annoyed, “while they play, and anyone foolish enough to invite us to join in is served their spleen on a skewer.” 

With an uncharacteristic boldness that would have made her flamboyant cousin Brigit proud, Kendra announced to the table, “We didn’t get all dressed up to sit in the dark like the unpopular girls at a high school formal.”

Things are starting to heat up! And just got hotter with an unexpected reduced price (which I hope is still in effect!). PRINCE OF SHADOWS , and its predecessor BETRAYED BY SHADOWS , are both on sale for only $0.99!! A great time to grab up these books that contain entertaining pieces of By Moonlight backstory! 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo Books | All Romance Books
Held hostage until she chooses a mate, Kendra Terriot must play a careful courtship game when choosing from among the dangerous Shifter heirs. As a prince in the House of Terriot, Cale knows with Kendra at his side he can be the leader his clan needs, but first he must learn to become the kind of man she desires. In a treacherous race for the crown, where weakness means death, to prove he’s not the beast his gentle beauty fears, the only way to win her trust could mean surrendering his throne. But the only way to win her heart could mean letting her go.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I’m out in the country with no Internet at a Write-In with a dozen other authors, feverishly trying to reach “The End” on PRINCE OF POWER, so it’ll be Monday before I can respond. Here’s hoping my fellow Warriors are all having equally productive weekends!


Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their 8sunday posts.
Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.

WeWriWa: It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye

I’m on the last few pages of my final read through of PRINCE OF HONOR , my shapeshifter W-I-P, soon to be my next new release. Parting is such sweet sorrow when you’ve worked, lived and breathed with a group of characters for months and months and now, the creative part of that relationship becomes all business. I’ve so enjoyed the ups and downs and wild in-betweens of my noble prince, Turow and his prisoner/first and only love, Sylvia. For today’s 8-10 line sneak peek, I’ve got things all steamed up . . .

He was just going across the parking lot. How far could she get when he had the keys to the truck and she had no money for the phone? But she was a dangerously clever female, he recalled, rubbing at his still tender jaw, and he’d made the mistake of underestimating her before. 

As much as he didn’t trust her alone, he desperately needed some saving distance from the constant temptation she’d become. Remaining in the room much longer listening to the jingle of the shower curtain and the sounds of spray against bare skin presented equal dangers, like forgetting what he was supposed to be doing in lieu of what he’d dreamed of doing ever since he’d snatched her out of her bed in next to nothing. Sylvia Terriot made it hard for him to remember his priorities. 

Hell, she just made him hard. 

He could almost feel his palms working up a lather on her soft skin the way she’d been working up a lather inside him all day. A man could only stand so much torment, even a boringly dutiful man. 

Carefully, Turow eased the bathroom door open.

Whew! I need a shower. But with these two, things aren’t always as they seem and Turow’s reasons for opening the door aren’t for what you’d think, which was why this couple was so much fun to work with.

I’ve just met with my cover artist and plans for a reveal of all four in the spin-off House of Terriot series are underway. I can’t wait to share!

Watch for PRINCE OF HONOR , soon to be up for pre-order with a release in mid-October!

Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their 8sunday posts.
Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.

WeWriWa: Dropping That Other Shoe

So sorry I missed last week's 8-10 Sentence post but I'm in the final stretch of my dark paranormal W-I-P, PRINCE OF POWER , and couldn't tear myself away. (Fanning self!)

You spend 400+ pages building, building, building those moments that put the reader on the edge. Things aren't good, then they're bad, then really bad, then worse, then, just when you think they've gotten over the worst of it . . . Boom! That other shoe drops. That's where I am now, pushing my characters, bringing all the sides and players together so the Black Moment is as dark as it can be for all concerned . . . and I can hardly force myself to leave the keyboard to go to my 9-to-5! The suspense is killing me. Every time I think the plot is all in place, another twist comes to mind (I love bendy stories!) to make the knot tighter. That's where Colin, my hero, is. Bad and worse are about to collide. Take a peek . . .

Colin shoved the car door open then turned to the driver with a wry twist to his smile. "Thanks for the help and the ride, and the fatherly advice, but you're not my daddy or my big brother." 

Silas waited until he'd slipped through the courtyard gate and shut it behind him before reaching for his phone. His call was answered with a brisk, "Hey, baby, what's up?" 

"Cale, I need a face-to-face. How soon can you and as many of your brothers as you can find get here?" 

"Daylight, unless you need us sooner. Is this a dance party or a war party so we'll know how to dress?" 

Silas couldn't help but sigh and shake his head in fond exasperation at the cocky tone, hating like hell what he was about to do. 

"It's about Colin, and it's not good."

Oh, no! Now what? What more could possibly happen? Muwahahahaha!
Happy Writing! Happy sneaking up on Fall!

Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their 8sunday posts.
Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.

IWSG: “Finding” Time to Write . . .

Finding time to write implies that you’ve lost it in the first place. I’ve never HAD time to write, I always had to MAKE time.

In my 30 years as a published author, I’ve viewed writing as my career, my business. I’ve also worked at day jobs. Those day jobs required I be there for the hours I agreed upon to get my work done. I look at my writing profession no differently. The work doesn’t get done if I’m not at my desk, hands on keys. So I’m there, every morning at 4:30 a.m. (6:00 a.m. on weekends!) and I write until I have to get ready for work. Would I rather sleep in? Heck yeah, but I’m an unforgiving boss.

I got published when my older son was two-years old, which was already a full time job. I made my writing time around his schedule because, Hey, he didn’t care if Chapter 16 wouldn’t write itself. I got up before he did. I wrote while he napped and after he went to bed. Every day. Son number two’s due date was the same day my re-writes for Book 3 were due – both came early. I spent those years with young children carving out the path of least resistance, blocking off the time I needed around the time they didn’t need me. Once they were in high school, I needed a steady paycheck and went back into the fulltime work force and I made my writing time fit that new schedule. And still do. I’m more than halfway through Book 61. It’s not writing itself, either. I have to be there. Every day.

“Finding” writing time is an extra. Woo Hoo! Lunch hour to finish that scene I came up with on the drive to work. Jotting down notes or a quick piece of dialog while waiting for an oil change. My purse is full of Post-It Notes from those precious “found” moments. I’ve got another “found” moment at the end of the month for a weekend Write-In with other MMRWA chapter members and plan to make the very most of it.

If you’re serious about what you do, you make the time. Trying to “find” it leaves an opening for not being able to. So here I am at 5:09 a.m. writing this post so I can get back to Book 61 as soon as I get my second cup of coffee . . .

How about you?

Here’s one of those books that I made the time to write with kids in underfoot, a 9-to-5, and a household to run. MIDNIGHT REDEEMER , part of my Touched by Midnight series is on SALE for only $0.99 until 9/15, a perfect time to take a bite if you haven’t already sunk your teeth into these darkly suspenseful paranormals.



Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo Books | Google
Hunt or be hunted . . . A centuries-old obsession stalks a noble family fighting to hide their dark secret from an ever-changing world. Sink your teeth into Nancy Gideon's Touched by Midnight series.

Will his dream . . .
Centuries-old vampire Louis Redman is desperate to believe an inquisitive researcher's claim that she's close to finding a cure for his age-old curse. Determined to become human again, he must trust the lovely geneticist who has pushed her way into his guarded life . . . and heart . . . not to betray him to the government agency that wants to uncover his secrets for their own purposes.

. . . be the death of her?

Scientist Stacy Kimball discovers potential fame and the answer to immortality in a murder victim's blood sample. But as she gets closer to the truth, danger stalks her from the shadows. Who wants to silence her from making the breakthrough of a lifetime? Is it the agency that funds her work? The killer who’s terrorizing Seattle's night scene?

Or the mysterious Louis Redman, whose kisses seduce her beyond caring . . . ? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~"A rare treat . . . this exciting thriller will keep you up all night as Ms. Gideon weaves her spell." — Romantic Times

"Nancy Gideon is one of the best supernatural writers on the market today!"— Midwest Book Review/BookWire

"Gideon's stories transcend the genre with action, adventure, mystery, horror, AND romance. Comparable in style to Dean Koontz."— Midnight Scribe Reviews

Happy reading! Happy writing!



The Insecure Writer’s Support Group
Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time.

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Twitter hashtag is #IWSG 

IWSG awesome co-hosts for the September 7th posting will be C. Lee McKenzie,Rachel Pattison, Elizabeth Seckman, Stephanie Faris, Lori L MacLaughlin, and Elsie Amata!

WeWriWa: Hard to keep a Good Hero Down

He’s baaaaaack! Louis Redman, the toothsome hero of my Touched by Moonlight vampire series, has returned to take a big bite from the cover price of MIDNIGHT REDEEMER now just $0.99 (!) through 9/15!

Louis has it all, looks, wealth, influence . . . immortality, but the one thing he desires is out of reach . . . his long lost humanity. And rough-edged scientist Stacy Kimble may have found the answer. The only thing standing in their way is a serial killer trying to frame him, a government agency determined to steal her research, and a surprising chance to find love again.

To celebrate the sale, I’m resurrecting MIDNIGHT REDEEMER for this weekend’s 8-10 sentence sneak peek. It’s a great place to try out the series as it moves from historical settings into the modern age. Sink your teeth in . . .

Stacy shuffled through the pictures once again, her breath quickening with agitation, for in each numbered square, one figure was conspicuously missing. 

Louis Redman didn’t like to have his picture taken, not because he wasn’t photogenic, but because he didn’t show up on film. 

“Sensitivity to light, my hind leg,” she muttered, studying the oddly empty photos, her stomach tightened with alarm and more strongly, with excitement. 

Piece by piece, she was gathering evidence that Louis Redman was . . . what? A creature of the night, the undead? Her scientific mind rebelled against those superstitious labels as the toothsome image of Nosferatu played against more basic reason. But he was something, all right, something not quite natural that presented both threat and promise tied up in a mysterious and attractive package. 

She would start unwrapping those layers tonight. 

Until then, she would learn all she could about the sample from the dead girl. 

Results that proved startling, and exciting . . . and unbelievable.
 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo Books | Google
Hunt or be hunted . . . A centuries-old obsession stalks a noble family fighting to hide their dark secret from an ever-changing world. Sink your teeth into Nancy Gideon's Touched by Midnight series.

Will his dream . . .
Centuries-old vampire Louis Redman is desperate to believe an inquisitive researcher's claim that she's close to finding a cure for his age-old curse. Determined to become human again, he must trust the lovely geneticist who has pushed her way into his guarded life . . . and heart . . . not to betray him to the government agency that wants to uncover his secrets for their own purposes.

. . . be the death of her?

Scientist Stacy Kimball discovers potential fame and the answer to immortality in a murder victim's blood sample. But as she gets closer to the truth, danger stalks her from the shadows. Who wants to silence her from making the breakthrough of a lifetime? Is it the agency that funds her work? The killer who’s terrorizing Seattle's night scene?

Or the mysterious Louis Redman, whose kisses seduce her beyond caring . . . ? 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~"A rare treat . . . this exciting thriller will keep you up all night as Ms. Gideon weaves her spell." — Romantic Times

"Nancy Gideon is one of the best supernatural writers on the market today!"— Midwest Book Review/BookWire

"Gideon's stories transcend the genre with action, adventure, mystery, horror, AND romance. Comparable in style to Dean Koontz."— Midnight Scribe Reviews
This holiday weekend I’m doing an error check skim-through of the final rereleased book in the series, MIDNIGHT CRUSADER , which should pop up with its new cover in the next few weeks. I’ll sure miss these characters and their walk on the dark side of romance.
Happy long weekend! Happy Writing!


Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their 8sunday posts.
Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.

WeWriWa: The Perfect Illusion

If only we had the perfect figure, the perfect face, the perfect job, the perfect home, (the perfect manuscript!) then everything else would be . . . perfect! Right? That’s what the heroine in my Dana Ransom contemporary TOTALLY YOURS believes when outward changes lead to fantastic opportunities. Until she discovers an attractive wrapping doesn’t change what’s still inside . . . 

She didn’t turn on the lamp because sneak eating, like forbid­den sex, was best if done in the dark, a temporary fantasy against the reality waiting back in the icy winds of Michigan, where a book of business, a fat gray cat, and no man’s arms waited to keep her warm, and now, she didn’t even have the comfort of her own personal insula­tion to guard against the chill of loneliness.

A sudden tap on her door sent Lisa rocketing to her feet, furtive in­stincts making her shove the half-emptied plate be­neath her bed and brush­ at the brownie crumbs that dotted the front of her skirt before she went to answer the door.

She smiled, positive Harlan Jameson could see those calories settling about her hips as he asked, “How ‘bout we share a little moonlight together or have you got something better lined up for this evening?” He touched the corner of her mouth, coming away with a telltale glob of whipping cream as Lisa cringed, waiting for his lecture.

Instead, Harlan sucked the goo off his thumb, offered his arm, and the lure of cream puffs disappeared.

The endless expanse of water was like a rippling field of dark wheat, bathed in the golden glow of the liner’s running lights as the vessel smoothly cut through the restless sea, sending up a fine mist they could feel even five decks up.

Angling toward Lisa, Harlan asked, “Mind if I get some­thing out of the way?”

She had barely enough time to shut her eyes before his lips touched hers, the kiss brief, unpressured, and as wonderful as she’d imagined.

“I can’t resist the taste of chocolate, either.”

When she looked up, her invitation was plain—Help yourself to another sample.

The above is a peek from a reissue that’s ON SALE for only $1.99 (!) through the 31st. A last call for summer to enjoy, living the dream on a cruise with the reality of winter waiting.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ TOTALLY YOURS by Dana Ransom
When a popular self-improvement program gives Lisa Reynolds a smoking hot body, she wins an unexpected prize: a Caribbean cruise as the club's corporate spokesmodel. Lisa, a hardworking insurance sales rep who prides herself on her brains, hesitantly accepts the siren call of being admired for her figure, too. 
But suddenly this new glamour girl faces magnetic CEO Harlan Jameson, whose interest in her matches her attraction to him, except...the "real" Lisa isn't this workout babe he created. And old self-doubts about being loved for herself resurface.

Harlan's not what she thinks. A self-made success, lonely, and isolated by a busy schedule...he's drawn to Lisa's honesty and warmth. When he understands her fears, he sets out to prove there's only one thing he wants her to change for him: her last name.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play
Happy weekend! Happy Writing!

Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their 8sunday posts.
Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.

WeWriWa: Revisiting a Tempting Trail

So much backlist, so little time!

For the past month, I've been spending my lunch hours at the grueling task of making sense of a scan from the cut-out pages of a long out of print paperback. The end result will be the reissuing of a five-book award-winning Western Historical romance series I'd written as Dana Ransom, with a follow up original novel. Yeah! The '90s floppy discs had long since degraded, so it was either re-type or de-cipher. Scans are tricky business. Format jumps all over the place, hieroglyphics mysteriously appear in lieu of words, font styles change in mid-sentence. The upside - remembering just how much I loved this story, these characters - enough to carry them through five going on six books! Here's a peek at my half-Apache Dime Novel hero saddled with an Eastern runaway in search of her missing brother and a fortune in jewels following TEMPTATION'S TRAIL . . .

"When I tell you to do something, I'm not talking just because I like the sound of my voice."

"I don't know why you're so mad at me," she declared angrily, "when I'm paying you good money and you back down at the first sign of trouble. Some hero. The Harmon Bass."

"I fight when I can win," he told her with a curious quiet, "and I don't let pride make me foolish when I have to watch out for a little girl who doesn't know how to follow directions."

"They didn't tell us anything."

"And they weren't likely to, either, not when they were running stolen cattle down into Mexico." He goaded his horse forward with the thump of his heels, his thoughts hot with fury because she'd disobeyed him and placed them in terrible jeopardy. Not from cattle thieves, but from men who were hungry for the sight of a woman like Amanda.

And because part of him wanted to play Harmon Bass, the Hero in her dreamy eyes. 

My next task, redoing the cover that made my sleek, short hero uber steroidal.

Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose - Here I come!
Happy Weekend Y'all!!


Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their 8sunday posts.
Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.

WeWriWa: And Now for Something Entirely Different . . .

Write what you know, right? But sometimes you get intrigued enough to step outside the comfortable parameters you’ve set for yourself.

Several years ago, having fallen for the series started by my fellow Pocket authors Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter, I was bitten by the exploration bug. I knew paranormal, but attempting a Young Adult series (especially, ewwww, first person!) was way outside my realm. I thought about it, played around with several ideas, thought some more and then drafted three chapters and a synopsis that, after getting a YA reader’s thumbs up, I finally submitted . . . right when the bottom was falling out of the paranormal market. The editors loved it but wouldn’t buy it. So, back to the thumb drive and all but forgotten. Until (there’s always an ‘until’ in publishing!), my former editor at Belle/ImaJinn joined another house, and what was she looking for? YA paranormal!

Fire up that thumb drive!

Here’s an excerpt from the prologue of the first book. What do you think?

They say your life flashes before your eyes. My 3-D hindsight only had time to rewind to back to this morning. As the strange events of the day rolled by, I realized I was watching a supernatural murder mystery unfold. I hadn’t understood then, but now, I could see the awful pattern. My dad’s a detective. He solves crimes by studying unrelated pieces, fitting them together like a gruesome jigsaw puzzle until they formed an ‘Aha!’ picture. 

I didn’t know when I got out of bed this morning that I’d be stepping into one of those spooky movies I hated to watch alone, but I guess when you’re the star of that particular creep show, you’re not in on the need-to-know fact that life as you know it is over. It sneaks up, slowly, stealthily, until you doubt what you hear, what you see, what you believe, until you’re convinced that the world’s gone mad and you’re the only one sane. 

That was the world I stepped into at 6:30 a.m. on this, my last morning as just plain Regina Graham, 17-year-old senior at Rayburn High. 

It started out so simply . . .

Maybe I’ve already got too many irons in the fire: I’m on the second book of my House of Terriot foursome; still promoting a paranormal boxed set; about to start tweaking the final book in my re-released vampire romance series; and, I’m going through the agonizing process of reformatting scans from the first book in the historical Western series I plan to reissue. Isn’t it already hot enough? 

Guess not! Just had to throw in that “H.o.T.” teaser (for “House of Terriot,” snort!).

Happy frantic writing weekend everyone!

Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their 8sunday posts.
Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.

WeWriWa: Where Is This Plotline Going?

My office cat editor asks a good question. I’m working through PRINCE OF POWER , the second book in my House of Terriot Foursome shape-shifter series and in this second book, unlike the first book PRINCE OF HONOR , I didn’t start on page one and write straight through as I usually do. Why? Because I stopped part way in because I realized I had to write PoH first. So, what to do with all those random scenes that bombarded me on my drive to work? I wrote them down the second I got into the office, of course, and saved them to use when I returned to that now second book. Here’s one such scene for today’s 8-10 line sneak peek:

The ride up to their family compound in a hired limo was mostly silent as the three of them sat lost in their own thoughts of what they’d left and what they were returning to. In New Orleans, they’d been visitors, out of place and carefully watched, but when the gates swung open to invite them back inside the walls they’d protected for generations, they were suddenly more.

They were princes, clan rock stars, envied, feared, desired, and each of them felt the pressure that came with the precious stones in their ears, because with power, came responsibility and a certain cautious distance they’d briefly shrugged off in anonymity. 

Colin stood in the doorway to his room, confused by his hesitation to cross the threshold. Like several of his still single brothers, he’d had a wall knocked out to increase his space, allowing for a massive closet, a king bed that had seen more traffic than most national monuments, and a huge sound system housing his collection of ‘70s and ‘80s rock. It held all his adult memories, a place he’d used to change his clothes and spend nights he rarely remembered . . . or cared to. Upon entering the carefully regimented space, there was no sense of welcome. All he felt was alone. 

While he quickly stowed his travel kit and traded up from his rumpled attire to meet with his king and fellow princes, a deep down realization stirred uneasily inside.

He wasn’t glad to be back.

Sounds easy taking all those scenes and linking them together. But when I began, I remembered why I never finished any of the dozens of stories stashed away in my closet. It’s like having ingredients with no recipe! Which goes first? When does this get added in? Of course, back then I wrote long hand into a notebook and didn’t have the luxury of cut and paste.

It’s coming along, but will definitely need some filler and smoothing once I’m “done.” Back to it.

How are things fitting together for you this weekend?


Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their 8sunday posts.
Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.