WeWriWa: A Cinderella Story

While you're reading this latest excerpt, I'll be in the last day of my MMRWA Retreat from Harsh Reality writers' weekend and, hopefully, far beyond mid-Chapter Nine of PRINCE OF FOOLS (at least, one hopes!). The plan is to enjoy the camaraderie, the fabulous meals, the hot tub, and inspiration provided at our yearly escape at the lush Bay Pointe Inn on Gun Lake, MI. The job is to squeak in some solid computer time during breaks and early morning write-ins. So, while I'm here, suffering for my art (snort!), here's a look at the night-to-night thankless job of the heroine in Book 3 of my "House of Terriot" dark paranormal shape-shifter series. 

Amber buffed the bar top to a mirror-like shine, motions brisk, leaning into the job with a fierce concentration, a thankless job because no matter how glossy she made it, the underlying scars and countless rings would soon reappear to spoil the perfect look she tried to maintain. Frederick Terriot was like that surface. Though dazzled by the shine, she knew what lay beneath, and no matter how hard she worked to change that fact, the damage had already been done, the flaws she tried to overlook forever marring what she longed to embrace. 

Rico was a dark storybook prince to her Cinderella barmaid. Behind that careless grin and sad eyes lay what his clan made him: rich, deadly, proud, thoughtless as well as vulnerable, and as far above her and her dreams as his soaring mountaintop to her bayou. Men like Frederick Terriot didn’t truly see females like her, not as equals, not as feeling, wanting, sharing partners. He used them for the moment to fill a need, not a permanent void, not because he was cruel or insensitive, but because of who he’d been raised to be. 

And that would never, ever change, no matter what she hoped, no matter what Mia Geudry vowed, no matter what those soft, seducing lips might promise. 

Her heart carried more wounds than her body, her mind not quite as many as her soul, yet still, foolishly, she might have taken a chance on this once in a lifetime prince if she were the only one at risk. But she had more to protect than just herself.

I think she needs a hero - one with a glass slipper.

Back to the keyboard. I might be late, but I plan to make the rounds to see what everyone else is up to.

Happy Writing and (FINALLY!) Happy Spring! And a Happy Big Three Ohhhhh to my youngest!


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.