Light shining through (w/audio)

Jaqueline had been working at the station for just over two years when she woke early to her first free Saturday. No interviews to prep for, no boxes to unpack, and the few emails she had received after falling asleep the night before to the sounds of soft jazz streaming through her new apartment’s built-in speakers, could wait until Sunday evening when she prepped for the coming week. Time and free never merged in her life or mind, so instead of springing into her morning routine, which included thirty minutes on her office treadmill, she stayed in bed for another thirty minutes watching the sunrise through her large bedroom window, freshly cleaned by yesterday’s window washer. With the shortest day of the year approaching, the sun’s later appearance had given her a few extra minutes of restful darkness. Her body was rested but her mind was anxious. ~ Honeysuckle Heat, Chapter 8

Hearing impaired: Please see full transcript of audio below. Thank you.

Thank you for stopping by! I’ve been wanting to share my window photo taken in Trier, Germany for quite a while; today’s excerpt felt like the perfect pairing. I am currently reading, Séduire – Serial Tales & Flash Fiction by Tremaine L. Loadholt. Started in Mexico, I will give trE’s book a proper review when completed, however, fully engaged in her storytelling skills, I couldn’t wait to share! Her book is available through Lulu. Honeysuckle Heat, along with my other publications, can be found on my about page or by clicking title.

featured photo by Shine Nucha / my window photo, Electoral Palace, Trier, Germany* / my beach photo holding Seduire book by Becky

*Electoral Palace window photo submitted for “Monday Window” ~ thank you to PR for hosting!

Audio transcript (discussion following reading of Chapter 8 excerpt):
I’d like to talk about the ending of this book for a few minutes and extend an invitation to readers. Without giving anything away, I want to share a bit about how the ending of this novella landed in its final form. I had another ending written and while my book was with my editor, I had an alternate conclusion drop in, while I was in the shower, of course. The birthplace of many ideas, right? I tried to ignore this change. After many months of focused writing, I was done, ready to move on to the next stage of the book writing process, yet the idea persisted so I rallied my story spent self and rewrote the ending, then sent the revised version to my editor. I am glad I did, and her feedback affirmed my efforts.

I would very much love to facilitate a discussion on the main female character’s life-altering decision, that fully reveals itself in the final chapter of Honeysuckle Heat. I am confident that it would be a dynamic discussion about ambition, love, and gender expectations and those are just my initial thoughts – individual reader perspectives about Jaqueline’s choices will surely expand on these motifs and why I am so excited to have this discussion.

I do not have a date in mind, though February feels promising. Just planting a seed today that I hope grows into a fruitful discussion in 2025. As always, feel free to leave a comment if you’re interested; I will circle back to this idea after the holidays. Thank you for listening!

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