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Guests and Featured Books
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Write About Welcomes Debut Author Nelson V Brasil!
I Don’t Remember
By Nelson V Brasil
In one night, in one fire, Roger Amarante’s life changed forever. He lost everything, and more importantly, everyone he ever loved. But what he doesn’t remember can’t hurt him, right?His seven-year stint at the Faja Rasa Retirement home has left him confused and empty to say the least. He doesn’t know why he’s there, who he is, or what has happened. He hates the nurses with a passion, and has not uttered a single word in the whole time he’s been there. When he meets an over achieving college student with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, his life once again changes forever.
Michael P onte is searching for the heart he apparently lacks, so that he could achieve his childhood dream of becoming a Fire Fighter. When he crosses path’s with a disgruntled, beaten down mess of a man, his heart is tested.Will they have the strength to conquer what they fear is impossible?Some hurdles are harder than others to overcome.I DOn’t REMEMBER will elicit a full circle of emotion that will spark hopefulness and hopelessness, and trigger thoughts you didn’t even know you had.
About the Author:
I was born Nelson Vieira Brasil in San Jose California on August 12th 1984. Being the first generation in my family born in the United States. I am full-blooded Portuguese, my family hails from the small island of São Jorge, Açores. The Açores islands can be found in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, there are nine islands in all, and they are all a part of Portugal.
I grew up in San Jose constantly surrounded by my many uncles and aunts. To this day, most of my uncles, aunts, and cousins are within a 5-minute drive f rom my house. We get together during the week for dinner, and sometimes during the weekend for birthday parties, or to just play some cards. I love my family, and would be lost without them.My parents are at the top of my heroes list. Both come from humble beginnings. Both have menial education, but have flourished to great heights in their lifetime. I would consider my parents to be great successes. They came to this country with little to nothing, and have worked and earned everything they own. They raised two children the right way, instilling values, and morals in them. They taught us the difference from right and wrong, and gave us the trust and confidence to make decisions on our own. They always encourage us to reach for our dreams, and would stop at nothing to support our means to achieving them. If I can become half the success my parents are, I will be happy.
Now that family and all that jazz are out of the way, let me tell you about why I write. I write because it brings me joy. It allows me to openly express my emotions and inspirations. It alleviates my stress, and empowers my confidence. It gives me an outlet to vent frustrations, or to praise successes. It allows me to let it all out, instead of bottling it up inside. I’ve been writing poetry and short stories since middle school. In high school, I began thinking that I wanted to write fulltime or at least become an English teacher so that I could be around reading and writing all the time. As I began college, I continued to write, and finally, began writing my first novel. The pride I felt from finishing my first novel is inexplicable. Then tragedy struck, my clumsiness caused me to tip over a glass of water onto the keyboard of my laptop. I lost everything on my hard drive. To say I was devastated is an understatement. I felt like I lost an arm or a leg. But with encouragement from family and friends I set out to write the same novel. Î DOn’t REMEMBER, is finally in print. Hopefully it is the first of many more to come.
Aside from writing, I enjoy doing many othe r things. Some of which include watching movies, reading, playing and watching sports, going to the lake with friends, gambling, and playing music. There many other things I enjoy doing but I won’t bore you with the rest.My goal is to keep writing, even if I don’t sell a single book, it doesn’t matter to me. All that matters is that I write, and publish my works.My wish is that my writing brings out an emotion from the reader. Any emotion, happiness, sadness, anger, as long as it brings a rise to someone then I feel as though I have accomplished my goal.
Write About Review:
This novella is a fast read, even if it is a little confusing at times with quick shifts in the points of view. It would have benefitted from a bit of polish to the grammar and spelling before publication. The story's strength is in the emotions carried by the prose and in the bleak characterizations presented by the author. Each character has his own prickly reality and the author does an excellent job of portraying people who are living lives of inner desperation. The main characters are two men and a woman. The two men have big dreams. One is young and untried, but determined. The other is older, scarred and hurting. The woman is a nurse with a vendetta against the older man who is a mental patient she has failed to help. The author sets up an inevitable clash of very strong and intriguing personalities. Whose spirit will be the first to break?
Although I found it hard to believe that neither the nurse nor the volunteer at the nursing home would welcome their patient's first words in seven years, the story moves beyond this milestone without any such reservations and shortly brings the volunteer, patient and nurse even closer together. There are brief glimmers of nobility as well as pure evil behind the nurse's strange words and behaviors. Gradually, with the volunteer's help, the patient begins to recall the memories of his tragedy. His catharsis complete, he is able to develop a loving relationship with the nurse and a fatherly relationship with the volunteer. But there is yet trauma and tragedy awaiting all three of these hapless characters as they attempt to mend the rifts that have torn their lives apart.
The author uses stark analogies that contribute to the overall mood of the shocks, reversals and unponderables of life. The author's style is elegantly simple with tensions and conflicts drawn out to their fullest. Overall, this story was full of profound emotional stresses delivered in fast-paced, unsettling action and drama.
Thanks for joining us with your debut book! Click the tour link below to visit Nelson V Brasil's website and download a free excerpt of I DOn't Remember.
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Write About welcomes Ryder Islington at this stop on her January blog tour!
The entire tour itinerary can be found here:
http://llpublications.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/tour-ryder-2012-the-author-of-ultimate-justice-ryder-islington-starts-her-blog-tour-here/
Ryder is here to share some ideas about writing violence:
Including Violent Crime in Your Writing
Writing about violent crime is very much like writing about sex. There are those who don’t want to know the details, and those who thrive on every touch. Many people love to read sex scenes but are abhorred by violence. I think that is because we are all capable of both, and we don’t like to see ourselves as capable of true violence.
But the fact remains that violent crimes are higher in the U.S. than ever before and it’s not just the gang bangers and the psychopaths. Child and spousal abuse, kidnapping, rape, molestation, car-jacking, home invasions… these are so common place they usually don’t make the front page, or even the front page of the local section, of the newspapers.
So how do we write about violent crime? Know what you’re writing. If you lived an ideal life, with no violence and you intend to include violence in your writing, you have some research to do.
You may want to watch a few dozen movies with vivid scenes of violence. Not necessarily slasher films, though they may be helpful if your criminal is a coward—slashers in the movies usually use weapons and sneak up on people, or hide in the dark, waiting. That’s a smart move for someone who is small, untrained in any kind of self defense, or handicapped in some way. If you’re writing police procedurals, watch cop movies. If you’re dealing with a serial killer, watch Criminal Minds, The Silence of the Lambs, etc.
Remember the violence has a root cause. Make sure your bad guy is sufficiently motivated. What would make you act the way you expect him to act? Remember that there are a lot of very sick puppies out there. Is your guy one of them? What is his mental problem? Research that.
You have to decide how detailed you want the violence to be. Are you going to show the bad guy sticking a knife into someone? How does the villain feel when he does that? In my debut novel, Ultimate Justice, A Trey Fontaine Mystery, one of the bad guys is a six year old boy. When he plunges the knife into a man’s belly, his response to the blood running over his hand is, “Ooo, warm. Velvety.” He has a reason for feeling that way, as do his partners in crime, a twelve year old boy, and a fifteen year old girl. They know about physical abuse, emotional abuse, and one of them knows about sexual abuse. So when they see a pedophile pulling a little girl into the woods, well, they handle the problem. They are well motivated.
You also need to know about the actual, physical mechanics of fighting. But before you decide how you’ll learn that, you may want to decide who your characters are, and how they will know, what you are about to research. Then go back to movies and TV to see how it is done visually, because what you want to accomplish is to have your readers see, and feel, the action. This is definitely something you have to ‘show, not tell.’
Thank you for a very informative article on this subject and thanks for stopping by Write About on your blog tour.
Ryder is a graduate of the University of California and former officer for a large sheriff’s department, RYDER ISLINGTON is now retired and doing what she loves: reading, writing, and gardening. She lives in Louisiana with her family, including a very large English Chocolate Lab, a very small Chinese pug, and a houseful of demanding cats. She can be contacted at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or visit her blog at http://ryderislington.wordpress.com
Ultimate Justice, A Trey Fontaine Mystery is receiving rave reviews from readers. http://www.ll-publications.com/ultimatejustice.html
The small town of Raven Bayou, Louisiana explodes as old money meets racial tension, and tortured children turn the table on abusive men. FBI Special Agent Trey Fontaine returns home to find the town turned upside down with mutilated bodies. Working with local homicide detectives, Trey is determined to get to the truth. A believer in empirical evidence, Trey ignores his instincts until he stares into the face of the impossible, and has to choose between what he wants to believe and the ugly truth.
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Write About welcomes Amy Corwin as she kicks off her January blog tour!
Amy Corwin is a charter member of the Romance Writers of America and recently joined Mystery Writers of America. She has been writing for the last ten years. She writes romance, historical and cozy mysteries. To be truthful, most of her books include a bit of murder and mayhem since she discovered that killing off at least one character is a highly effective way to make the remaining ones toe the plot line. Amy’s books include the three Regency romantic mysteries, I BID ONE AMERICAN, THE BRICKLAYER’S HELPER, and THE NECKLACE; Regency mysteries, THE VITAL PRINCIPLE, and A ROSE BEFORE DYING; and her first cozy mystery, WHACKED!, will come in in 2012 from Five Star. Join her and discover that every good romance has a touch of mystery.
KD: Welcome, Amy. Romance with a touch of mystery sounds like wonderful combination. Two of your books involve the Second Sons Inquiry Agency. Is this type of agency based in historical fact? Tell us a little bit about the agency and how it operates in the stories.
AC: The Second Sons Inquiry Agency is entirely fictional, but it’s based upon a lack of such things, rather than the existence of them. While the Bow Street Runners had already been established, it only operated within the environs of London, leaving a bit of a lack outside the city. Certainly, there were local constables, but the regularization of a police force as we know it today, along with forensics, developed later in the 19th century when Peel initiated a series of reforms around 1833. Nonetheless, there were “thief-takers” or private inquiry agents that could be employed by anyone interested in doing so. So I extrapolated from that, and from the Bow Street Runners.
It seemed logical for a number of reasons. Knighton Gaunt, the founder of Second Sons, was himself a second son and one accused of murdering his father. He developed an understandable drive to discover the truth from this experience and once he cleared his name, he found that he was not interested in the standard careers generally pursued by the younger brothers of the social elite: the military or the church. So Gaunt became my first sleuth and naturally, his agency grew to include others who found themselves unwilling for whatever reason to pursue more acceptable careers.
The fact that this type of career was, at that time, was not considered socially acceptable work for a gentleman as also intriguing to me, because it means anyone engaged in it must be willing to give up his or her social position. An inquiry agent (or thief-taker) was on par with a tradesman, not a gentleman, and he had to work among the criminal classes. Acquaintances and friends might even shun one who decided to become an inquiry agent, so it was a difficult decision to be sure. This inevitably leads to personal issues as well as the professional issues of successfully identifying a criminal without benefit of all the forensics we rely on today. My final reason for creating a fictional agency was the fear that if I simply wrote about an amateur detective, I might eventually come to feel about him the way Sir Conan Doyle felt about Sherlock. After all, he attempted to kill off Sherlock at least once. With an agency, I can explore other characters and situations.
KD: I've often wondered what second and subsequent sons did with themselves in those days. I think you gave them a wonderful occupation in your stories. Your regency novels present several specialized topics such as roses and spiritualism. How much research do you do and do you stress about getting the details correct?
AC: I do an enormous amount of research and I make every attempt to get the details right as far as I am able. I’ve researched and grown old garden roses for a number of years and at one time, had nearly 150 varieties in my garden. I became fascinated with them because I found I could not grow Hybrid Teas and desperately wanted to grow roses. When I found old garden roses, I was amazed. No spraying and very little maintenance and yet they grow like crazy. In our area, the Teas and Chinas do particularly well, and interestingly enough, they contributed to the development of the fussier Hybrid Tea which I can’t grow.
The spiritualism was insisted upon by the character, Prudence Barnard. It wasn’t as popular in the Regency as it was in the later Victorian period, but its roots were already developing. Unfortunately, spiritualists were largely con men and women, who found the general public’s need for a more spiritual outlook to offset the increasingly industrial/mechanical developments as society moved from an agrarian culture to an industrialized one.
However, back to Pru. Her father dragged her around with him as he pursued an interest in ghosts and the spirit world. He wanted to prove the existed. Unfortunately, their research pretty much proved the opposite for Pru was almost always able to show some more earthly reason for the disturbances. When he died, it left her destitute and for an educated woman in her position, that meant becoming a governess or companion. Pru soon realized, however, that others saw her experience with her father as an ability to see into the spirit world, rather than disprove it. Women in her social class were happy to have her as a guest, particularly if they thought she could give them the thrill of speaking with the dearly departed.
So rather than face the grim life of working as a companion or governess, she became what is essentially a professional guest. While no one would have claimed to be a professional guest, it is actually not unheard of. Many penniless gentlemen lived precisely in the same way, by moving from house to house as a guest, fed and housed in return for being amusing and “rounding out the numbers” at the dinner table. A few years later, when spiritualism really took off, spiritualists picked up where these penniless gentlemen left off, traveling from house to house and offering the amusement of spirit sessions. You’ll note I try to avoid the use of the word séance, since that did not come into use until a few years after the close of the Regency period.
KD: 150 varieties of roses? Wow, that's true dedication! Writing mysteries involves intricate plotting of details. Are you a detail-oriented person? How do you keep track of the details as you draft?
AC: Yes. My day job is as a computer specialist and I have an extensive background in programming. I’ve met a lot of other writers who were also programmers. I always work out an outline and worry over every little detail. I have software called Personal Brain I use to keep track of everything. Because I reuse characters like Pru and Knighton, I don’t want to have to recreate info on them or copy it over from book to book. The Brain lets me create things once and then link them visually to anything else. So I can continually link characters, settings, anything from threads about one book to the tread of another. Spreadsheets also help as continuity checks. Over time, my methods morph and change, but no matter what method I use for a particular book, I always employ something.
KD: You are lucky to have great software skills to assist you with your writing. Would you say your mystery stories are dark and serious or more lighthearted and comic? What do you expect readers to enjoy most when they read one of your mysteries?
AC: No matter how dark they get, there is always one bright, humorous thread, comic relief, if you will. In The Vital Principle, some terrible things are revealed during the investigation. Nonetheless, I have one character who is rather endearingly funny to lighten the book. If I don’t have any humor at all, I find I lose interest in writing. Some of my books are much more broadly comical, particularly those involving the Archer family, but even in the funny ones, there are dark threads. After all, if someone has been driven to commit murder, there is something that caused it, some blackness. But amidst the darkness, there must always be light, and I try to end every book on a light note. A happy ending, and hope, are very important to me, and I hope to my readers.
KD: Who are some of your favorite mystery authors/stories, and why do you admire them?
AC: I love Charles Todds’ mysteries, set just after WWI. They are a fascinating glimpse into a bygone era. The characters are so tortured and so real that you can’t help but feel for them. I also enjoy Charlotte MacLeod’s mysteries, all of them, as they are such lighthearted fun. The Convivial Codfish is an absolute riot. Elizabeth Peters, Agatha Christie, and so many other great mystery writers. I love both the light stories and the dark, although I shy away from the ones that are too grim.
KD: Tell us a little about your background. What was it like growing up? Were you a good student in school?
AC: I was a very boring little girl, I’m afraid. I always followed the rules because I thought it was silly not to. I was a moderately good student, particularly in the sciences. At one point, I thought I might become a biologist, but I eventually settled for marrying one, instead. The truth is, I was one of those students who enjoyed school. I’ve always liked learning, and I still do.
KD: Talk a little bit about your particular brand of creativity. What do you think your writing has that other authors don't have?
AC: Fun and yet serious. No matter what horrible events lead to a murder, there is always hope that the bad guy will be caught. Justice will be served. And people will find happiness. If there’s one message I want to relay it’s that there is always hope.
KD: Tell us about your writing process. Do you write every day? Do you have a favorite place to write?
AC: I try to write most days, but because of the stress of my day job, I do give myself a day off on weekends to recharge the batteries. The thing is, the more you write, the more you want to write and the more ideas you get. So you sort of have to write.
KD: What is your time-frame for writing a full-length novel? Do you work on one story at a time or do you have several projects going at once?
AC: I’m the world’s slowest writer. It takes me a long time to flesh out an idea, even before I write it down. Then about a week to develop an outline. After that, it takes about 4-6 months to write the first draft. I let it rest and work on something else, then it takes another 4-6 months for edits. Another couple of months to send through editors, and so on. Books coming out this year were written a minimum of two years ago.
KD: Where can readers purchase your books?
AC: Almost anywhere ebooks are sold, including Barnes and Noble/Nook, Amazon/Kindle, Smashwords, and directly from the publisher in the case of The Wild Rose Press books or Five Star/Gale.
KD: Thanks for joining us today, Amy. Amy will be giving away a $25 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour, so please leave Amy a comment. You can also find Amy on the web:
Website: http://www.amycorwin.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/amycorwin
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AmyCorwinAuthor
Blog: http://amycorwin.blogspot.com
Stop by Amy's other tours this month!
January 17: Carrie Ann Ryan's Blog
January 24: We Fancy Books
January 31: Realmantic Moments
Amy's tour arrangements by Goddess Fish Promotions:  http://www.goddessfish.com
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Monday, 19 December 2011 19:49 |
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 The third and final book in the Cumbria Trilogy is now available!
Without a Lord - now just 99 cents!
Amazon
ARe
Smashwords
A Lady of Worth - now just 99 cents!
Amazon
ARe
Smashwords
Into the Pale
Amazon
ARe
Smashwords
To season himself as a knight, and test his mettle in holding onto his celibacy, Sir Gilbart of Fellswick accompanies Richard Strongbow's invasion of Ireland. Sir Gilbart hopes to prove himself worthy of his noble birth and prepare himself to be a Knight Templar. But a clever Irish noblewoman challenges not only his prowess as a knight, but his resolve to keep himself chaste.
Lady Eilish of Tinnancarew demands that her brother to hold to his promise to wed her to a man of high rank. Her skill with a spear is uncanny and her will to protect her twin sister from their brother's wrath is strong. How can she make her brother understand that siding with Strongbow's army risks the very lands she's already suffered to protect?
Excerpt:
She crept along the passageway. Purposely without slippers, without clothes of any kind, only wrapped in a thin mantle of wool. He would not refuse her, she was certain of it. She stopped and hitched a breath when she saw a heap of man outside the door. She studied the man's form. He was asleep and just far enough beyond the door that she could slip by if she were careful. She closed her eyes and made a silent prayer. The door complied with her wishes, opening and closing soundlessly, but there was a soft click as she set down the metal latch.
The man inside the chamber wasn't asleep. She could see by the brazier that he lay watching her. He must have seen her open the door. She'd taken her time with it, fearing it would creak. His look was a solemn frown. Her heart leapt along like a frightened hare, but courage had not abandoned her. She reached her right hand to undo the clasp of the cloak. His face changed and he spoke in a whisper.
"Eilish…"
She stepped towards him and let the cloak fall from her tense fingers.
"Oh, God!"
He rose up from the bed, his naked skin golden in the faint light. She didn't realize how cold she was until his arms were around her, his warm, solid body against hers. Lord forgive her, he was warm. Deliciously heated and warm like broad sunlight.
"It was beyond my hope that you would come to me this way," he said in a breathless voice. "I would beg your forgiveness…beg to be in your favor again…"
He kissed her face with moist, soft lips. She murmured contented sounds and put her arms about his neck. Skimming her hands over his solid shoulders, she slinked her fingers into his hair. Short as it was she had wanted to do that. It felt like soft tufts of wool. No, softer! Like the pelt of a young hare.
His tender, probing lips were on hers, tasting slowly. Being tasted was wondrously strange. It made her feel weak and she wavered, clinging to his shoulders. When he applied his tongue to the feast she opened her mouth for him and her knees disappeared. In a dizzy moment, she was on the bed. In the bed. With him. And he was still kissing her. How did he do that? When he kissed her neck she could feel it all over her body. And his warm hands were stroking slowly everywhere. Bliss! Then suddenly he stopped.
"Hugh…" she breathed at him, urging him to continue, watching his glistening eyes as he scanned her naked body slowly.
"God, you are so beautiful!"
He was touching again, caressing with rough hands that felt like wet sand moving lightly against her skin. It felt so wonderful. Like the first time she'd been in the sea. Washed by something elemental and far more powerful than herself. She pulled his head towards hers, seeking to sear the eager features of his face into her mind.
"I love…" she whispered.
"Do you? Sweet God. I swear. I'll never touch another woman as long as I live!"
"Only me…."
"Yes…yes! Only you…"
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Last Updated on Monday, 26 December 2011 08:46 |
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Monday, 21 November 2011 12:35 |
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Please welcome our guest, Donna Shields!
Out Now at Soul Mate Publishing: The Swan Cove Murders: Where the dead speak to her, danger finds her, and love saves her.
As if the violent murder of Lena Dixon’s fiancé hadn’t been bad enough, now his brother, Nicholas Hunter, is court ordered to live with her for the next thirty days. And to top it off, the murderer’s ghost is asserting his innocence and refuses to leave until Lena and Nicholas prove it. The skeptic in Nicholas believes Lena has lost her mind until he witnesses some unexplainable events and is forced to believe in her psychic abilities and his heart’s desire. As their sexual chemistry heats up, so do their guilt levels. Can they make their newfound relationship work, or will it be too late when the real killer comes calling for her?
KD: Congratulations on the release of your book, The Swan Cove Murders from Soul Mate Publishing. Tell us a little bit about the book.
DS: Thank you so much for having me here today. The Swan Cove Murders is about spirit writer/psychic Lena Dixon and her deceased fiance’s brother, Nicholas Hunter. As they investigate a murder, they are court ordered to live together for 30 days. And each is contacted by a ghost. Nicholas by his dead brother and Lena by the dead accused serial killer. As they come closer to figuring out whom the true killer really is, their love for one another strengthens. But, the murderer has different plans for Lena. Nicholas has to race against the clock to save Lena from the crazy killer.
KD: What did you enjoy most about writing Lena and Nicholas's story?
DS: Nicholas’s ghost encounters with his brother, Earl, because these open his narrow-minded thinking.
KD: The Swan Cove Murders has romance, mystery and paranormal all blended together. How difficult was it to blend those three elements and which one do you think stands out most?
DS: Very hard as you have to keep all three going throughout the story. I think they are all equally distributed for the most part. If I had to pick, I’d have to say the paranormal.
KD: Blended genre books often have a hard time with traditional publishers. How difficult was it to get this book published?
DS: It was difficult. But, luckily I found an editor who took a chance on me and The Swan Cove Murders. She loves it.
KD: Soul Mate Publishers is a fairly new epub and trade paperback publisher. How has your experience with them been? Would you recommend other authors to submit their work there?
DS: My experience has been wonderful. Debby is an awesome editor and I would highly recommend everyone to at least give her a shot. She responds to me practically instantly on anything I may need clarified or issues or cover art. Really anything.
KD: You write suspense and paranormal. Have you always liked reading these genres? What is it about them that draws you in as a reader? As a writer?
DS: Oh yes, I’m a huge fan of both. As a reader, I love being on the edge of my seat wondering what’s going to happen next and find out half the time I’m wrong, lol. As a writer, I like being able to find that slightly different edge for a story and leaving my readers hanging until the end.
KD: Tell us a little about your background. What was it like growing up? Were you a good student in school?
DS: I come from a large family. I’m the 9th and the baby of the group. I led a pretty active childhood with a very active imagination. We were always thinking up something new to play – like pretending we were Charlie’s Angels - and when I hit middle school, it was all about the ghosts in and around my mom’s house. That wasn’t my overactive imagination. We found out some interesting information about the history of the land and the house. We’d ‘investigate’ and pull out the Ouija Board. That was until a Bible went flying across my bedroom and that ended that! I was a good student in school up until I hit high school. Then it went downhill. I don’t regret the mistakes I made as I can’t change them anyway. Besides, every path I walked down and every decision I made led me to who I am and where I’m at in my life now. I can say my life has not been dull by any stretch of the imagination.
KD: What was your time-frame for writing The Swan Cove Murders? Was this book the first manuscript you completed?
DS: Not my first one to be started, but yes the first one completed. My rough draft was written in 35 days thanks to Savvy Author’s May Bootcamp. Then, I had to edit and that took about another 1 ½ months. Then came the pitching Savvy Author had in July. That was a nerve-racking time. Debbie, my editor, wanted to see the first 50 pages and the rest is history. The total time of writing and editing before the pitching was roughly 2 ½ months.
KD: Tell us a little bit about your writing process. Do you write every day?
DS: I try to, but it doesn’t always work out that way. Now that I have a full time job along with promoting The Swan Cove Murders and other volunteer obligations, there’s not much time left over for writing. But I do try to write on the weekends. My writing process is I’ll make a rough outline of a couple chapters and then buckle down and write. Sometimes I’m thwarted by my characters when they pull ‘This is what needs to happen here’ and it will be four chapters ahead of where I’m at.
KD: Thanks so much for visiting Write About, Donna! Readers, read on for a great excerpt, a short bio on Donna and links to find Donna on the web.
Excerpt:
The door slowly opened, and she slid through the slim opening. The purple smudges under her beautiful hazel eyes spoke volumes to him, crushing his heart. Be strong.
“What do you want? The sheriff already delivered the papers.” The glare radiating from her hazel eyes spoke of wanting to set him on fire, burning him alive. She’d been crying.
“I know.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, you also know Earl left me the house.”
“A small technicality which will be fixed the day after tomorrow in court.”
She sighed. “Then what do you want today of all days?”
“I would like to get into my attic.” When she didn’t answer, he smiled. “Please.”
Suspicion crept into the fiery gaze. “Why should I let you?”
“I have a key. I can come and go anytime I please.” Vixen. “I thought I’d be nice and ask, before forcing my way in.”
“You certainly aren’t winning me over.”
He put his hands together as if in prayer. “Please. I just need the trunk.” His and Earl’s trunk. After the funeral, Lena had insisted Nicholas take the treasure trove with him, but the memories inside had been too much to handle at the time.
Her swollen eyes softened a little. “Well...” She pushed open the door and waved him in.
He made his way through the foyer, pausing when he spotted the family photos hanging on the wall. “I see you haven’t changed anything.” He hadn’t been inside the house since Earl’s death.
“Why would I?”
His eyes caught the flower arrangement on the side table near the staircase along with the card sticking up in the middle. “Secret admirer?”
Her face flushed. “How about none of your business? Do you want time with the trunk or what?”
Bio:
Donna Shields grew up on romance and scary stories. With her love for suspense and the slightly unusual, she enjoys tying these elements together to create stories full of love, danger, and the paranormal.
She lives in the beautiful upstate of South Carolina with her husband, her children, and some great haunts. She’s a mom, a ‘gramma’, a wife, a friend, an avid reader and writer. When she’s not occupied with all that, she loves traveling to Playa del Carmen and Jamaica.
Purchase links for Donna's book:
Soul Mate Publishing http://soulmatepublishing.com/the-swan-cove-murders
Amazon: http://amzn.com/B0065M6GNM
Finding Donna on the web:
Blog: http://donna-realworldwriting.blogspot.com/
Website: http://donnamshields.wordpress.com/
Soul Mate Authors Group Blog: http://smpauthors.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Donna-Shields/192982964105589
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/Donna_Shields
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Last Updated on Monday, 21 November 2011 13:01 |
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