Character Interview...

Today I'm interviewing the main character from "Finding The Right Time". She's a journalist go getter that has a problem. I'll be talking with her about the issues and how she plans to work through them. SH: Good morning Lily! LS: Good morning. SH: Let's get right to the problem at hand. The dreams you've had since childhood still haunt you. Have you had any luck finding out why those dreams are important? LS: Actually, now that I've moved to Savannah the dreams have come to a head. The house in my dream is the house I'm renting now. Also, the man I'm renting from looks a lot like the man in my dream. SH: That's interesting. I heard you speak of time travel. How does that come into play? LS: Well, that put me in a tailspin. I've been drawn to the cemetery on the land. When I went to the cemetery, something strange came over me. I was transported to 1865 and to the man in my dreams. Rafe is a good man and he loves me. SH: But aren't you in love with Anthony, his great great grandson? LS: (She smiles) Well, that's part of the problem. It's as though they are the same man, but I know that can't be. I'm having a difficult time with this problem. It's hard when you love two men with all your heart. SH: That is definitely a problem. Do they know that you love them both? LS: I've made Anthony aware of it, but Rafe refuses to talk about it. How can I be in love with two men from different times? SH: That's quite a quandry that you're in. What's your plan? LS: I'm not sure at this point. I love Rafe dearly and also I love Anthony. They're both wonderful men. I'm drawn to Rafe by unknown forces and that keeps me going back. I pray that I make a decision really soon. SH: Well, let's hope the decision you make helps and you can make peace with it. LS: Thanks. I do hope the same thing. SH: Thanks for meeting with me today. LS: Thanks for writing me into your novel. I do hope all of your readers enjoy reading about what I do next. It could be a surprise and a pleasant ending or maybe not :) I do hope you enjoyed this little interview. The story of Lily's time travel romance is a many faceted thing. It's a wonderful love story that brings things that are important to us to the forefront. It's on preorder now on Smashwords. Check it out. As always, good writing and May God Bless You...

Time Travel - Something new...

As I work on my latest manuscript I have to sigh. Have you ever gotten so lost in your work that you react to every detail? This has been such a step away from my normal writing, but I'm really enjoying it. I have some surprises in store for the readers with this one. And yes before you ask, there are horses and a handsome cowboy. I mean it's me writing it. I've based this story in one of my favorite cities, Savannah. It's so rich with history and beautiful places. I love history. That was my favorite subject in school beside literature. I wonder why I like literature... I thought I'd give you a little sneak peak of "Finding The Right Time" and as it happens, this books will not be coming out for a little while. I made a huge decision Saturday to enter this manuscript in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest. Last year I entered "A Love Never Lost" and it made it through to the 2nd round which was exciting. Fingers crossed and hopes abound. Well, here's a little bit: Rafe walked around in front of her and held out his hand. “Would you like to dance?” “I don’t know how to dance to this, but if you’ll lead.” She smiled up into his handsome face which was full of mischief. “I’ll lead you anywhere my dear.” He said as he pulled her in amongst the other couples waltzing around the makeshift dance floor. Which actually was just a marked off area of the dirt road. She grabbed his hand and he gently placed his other on her waist. “You smell wonderful.” He put his nose to her hair as he pulled her closer. “It’s lavender from your grandmother.” She smiled. It was heavenly dancing close to Rafe. His muscular chest was under her cheek. Every movement caused his muscles to ripple. “This feels right holding you in my arms. Thank you for staying tonight.” He kissed the side of her head as he held her close. He didn’t care what anyone thought at that moment. All he could think of was holding her for possibly the last time. Could his heart take it if she decided not to come back? She closed her eyes and almost forgot where she was. Suddenly someone started to sing an old Irish sounding tune. She smiled up at Rafe as he didn’t stop moving to the music. Neither was aware of the whispering among the town. They were mesmerized by the couple in the middle of the dance floor. Brody sat down beside Mrs. Emma and put his arm around her. “Gran, I do think our boy has finally given his heart.” “As do I Brody. She’s a wonderful girl. I do hope she’ll make the right decision and stay with us.” Her voice quivered with worry. She’d seen the uncertainty earlier in Lily’s eyes. She knew that feeling only too well. She’d made the right decision for herself, but what was Lily’s? “Do you think she’ll leave again?” He watched the couple and had his doubts. He saw the love in their eyes and it was mutual. “I hope tonight will give her reason to stay.” She watched the couple. Then she looked around and everyone there was watching them and smiling. Everyone could see it, but would Lily? She just prayed it would become crystal clear tonight. After five songs Rafe pulled Lily off to the side. “Let’s get some air.” She followed as he led her to the edge of town away from the buzzing crowd. When they were out of sight of everyone, he turned and pulled her into his arms. His lips were suddenly on hers and she was lost. He pulled her close to his body. He’d held his emotions all evening, but he was about to snap. It was as though she was his water and he was thirsty. He drank of her as though he’d been without for years. She wound her arms around his neck and pulled him into the kiss. As she deepened the kiss he groaned. This felt so right to her, but could she leave everything. For tonight she’d be his. He ran his hands up and down her back. It was as though he couldn’t get her close enough. When he finally released her it was only to pull her between two of the buildings. He pressed her against the side of the building and kissed her passionately. Their breathing was ragged as passion took over their bodies. He knew he needed to stop but he couldn’t seem to muster up the strength to let her go, not yet. He wanted her badly and the knowledge that this could be their last time together was almost his undoing. She was the first to push at his chest. If they went any further she’d never be able to make a clear decision. This was so hard to not just give in to her desires. She knew it’d be so easy. He leaned his head against hers as he tried to control his breathing. “Lily please forgive me. I don’t know what came over me.” “There’s nothing to forgive. I wanted you too, I still do, but this will not help my decision.” She pulled away from his embrace and leaned against the wall. He put his hand on her shoulder. “If you want me as badly as I do you, then the decision is made.” He looked down at her face. It was hard to see her expression in the darkness. He knew his want was from mostly love and what he knew was also lust. “It’s not that easy Rafe. I don’t want to make a decision based on passion. That’s not love. I want my decision to be true to my heart, not my body. Can you understand that?” She turned to look up into his face. “I’ll have to understand it. I just want you to be my wife.” He ran his fingers through his hair in heated frustration. He could use another dip in the cool stream behind the house. He’d had several of those since Lily had come into his life. That’s where he’d been the night she’d seen him from her window. She realized he’d just laid his heart on the line. “Oh Rafe, you’re such a wonderful man. Please give me until the morning.” She laid her hand on his heart and it was beating wildly. He reached up and covered it with his large hand. “I am a man of my word. I’ll give you until the morning, but I will tell you this. If you decide to stay, I want us to be married as soon as possible.” His voice was stilled ragged with passion. “If I decide to stay we will be married before the next setting sun.” She reached up and grasped his face, pulling it down to hers. It was the most passionate, sweet, heart wrenching kiss. It touched her soul in a way she’d never expected. Rafe touched her soul, but was it enough? I know that was more than a bit, but I just love this part. It's going to be hard holding back on the publishing of this one. Hopefully I can restrain myself. I have to make my final decision before February 16th. If I get an offer for it before then, I'll jump but keep your fingers crossed. This book will be a game changer for me. As always, good writing and May God Bless you...

Well, I'm Gonna Jump!

Have you ever thought about doing something and then you put it to the side for a while? Well, that’s what I’ve been doing regarding entering Harlequins So You Think You Can Write contest. I thought about it last year, but I wanted to wait another year to work on my writing. I just didn’t think what I had ready was good enough. To tell the truth, as a writer, sometimes we’re our worst critics. 

The funny thing is the story I had almost entered into it last year went past round one of Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Contest which was excited for someone like me that does this as a hobby for the time being. I think I squealed for a week. I was excited ok. 

Well, here we go again. I started this book a couple of months ago and it’s only about 1/3 of the way completed. It was a sudden inspiration but for some reason another story, “Victoria” which officially comes out September 30th, took over. But it nudged it’s way back into my brain in a very pushy way. Stories can do that. If you’re not a writer, you may be saying, that wouldn’t happen, well, it can and does. Those characters can be real bullies and it can get a little scary how well they weave their way into everything you do. You find yourself washing dishes and plotting the next scene, working on depreciation schedules with the characters dancing on the paper, and then you dream about them. If I could record my dreams as they happen this story would be completed.

So, I’m going to jump into this contest with both feet. I had a dedicated fan tell me the other day that I needed to enter some contests. She said I could win, but I had to enter first. It was very humbling to say the least. I told her as we corresponded via email that I didn’t have any piece of work near enough completion, but she quickly informed me that I had time to finish this one. I had mentioned this one in an earlier blog post and she said it had the potential. I tentively sent her a little of the first chapter and she completely blew my email up with the response, “You’ve got to enter this one”. 

I will be hitting yes and confirm today on the contest. I know, that gives me less than a month to finish the story that is complete in my mind already. So wish me luck and go by the website to read my first chapter. Not sure how long it takes to post it but it will be there in the next couple of days. Here’s the link http://www.soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com/.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…