Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales, the weekly blog where a select group of authors share their work in progress with you. This will be my last post from Sea Breeze since the book is finished and will be posted in paperback format later this week. Our word is CAREFUL.
“Before Seamus could sign the papers,” Sean continued, “he worsened and had to be too heavily sedated to legally sign anything … He’d hoped to stop the pain medication long enough to be able to, but he worsened and died. Before he did, he made me promise to bring this matter to your attention. You’re under no legal obligation to offer Cal the same deal.”
“Is Cal still interested in investing in the resort?” I asked, my heart landing square in my stomach. Was he being nice to me only to secure this investment?
Sean nodded. “He is. We discussed it just before I sent you the notification of inheritance. In fact, if you’d decided you didn’t want the resort and wanted to sell it, he would’ve made you an offer for it.”
“Where would he have gotten the money? You said the resort is worth twenty million dollars.”
“Cal has some money, including the hundred thousand currently in an escrow account, the boat, the tour company, the building, and the potential income he gets from his paintings. He spoke to the rest of us, and we were all willing to put up whatever we could for collateral to help him secure the mortgage.” He shrugged. “The bank manager had agreed to advance him the money since keeping the Sea Breeze in local hands means a great deal to everyone. But now that you aren’t going to sell, it’s a moot point. You should know that Cal has already invested a significant amount of time and his own money in the kitchen renovations, but as I said, you’re under no obligation to honor what your uncle wanted. What’s in the will is all that matters. A contract that was never signed is worth less than the paper it’s printed on, but I had a moral obligation to your uncle to at least mention this to you.”
“I see. Does Cal know about the insurance policy and the bank account?”
Sean shook his head. “To my knowledge, no. He might assume a careful man like Seamus would’ve had life insurance … but Seamus was closemouthed about his personal life and finances.” He reached for a box beside his desk. “This contains all the condolences we received from former regulars at the resort. When you reopen, you’ll have no problem filling the place.” He placed the box beside me. “What do you want to do about Cal?”
That’s it. Stay safe and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales
Happy Monday! When I was working, I dreaded Mondays, not because i didn’t want to work, but because the students tended to be sleepier and less alert Monday mornings, especially the older ones. Now that I’m retired, there isn’t a great deal of difference on any day of the week.
Today, our letter is C. Today the letter stands for the word characterization which, for my purpose, means the creation or construction of a fictional character. The way this is achieved is best explained using the acronym, PAIRS: physical description, action, inner thoughts, reactions, and speech.
Let’s start with physical description. Some authors find online images of a person who best describes the character they have in mind. I don’t usually do that, but when I’m writing a contemporary romance where the hero and heroine or heroine alone with be featured on the cover, it helps. For example, let’s look at the cover of one of my contemporary romantic comedies, Make Mine a Manhattan, a book in my Cocktails for You series.
Here’s the blurb:
What’s an author to do when, thanks to writer’s block, she’s hopelessly stuck?
With only eight weeks left to finish her newest novel, bestselling author Sydney Sanders, aka Robin Langford, is stumped. On impulse, the thirty-three-year-old introvert decides to take her agent’s advice and shift gears, but instead of going on a short vacation, she decides on hands-on research. Immersing herself in her story and assuming her heroine’s identity, she heads to Manhattan to live out the plot. What could possibly go wrong? As Savanna Long, she boards the train, expecting a quiet ride and time to refresh her muse for the chore ahead. But a lot can happen during the thirty-eight-hour trip, especially with her imagination and the drop-dead gorgeous passenger in the next car.
My Robin was a shy woman with a secret. I didn’t want to make her drop-dead gorgeous, but I needed to transform her from the way she saw herself into the heroine she wanted to emulate. So, the first step on her journey is a makeover–we all know how much fun those can be.
The second letter in PAIRS stands for action. The character must do something that creates the circumstances of the story. In this case, Robin decides to go to New York City as her fictional character to see if she can unblock her muse with hands-on experience.
The I in PAIRS stands for inner thoughts. What’s she thinking? How does what she’s thinking reveal her character? Is she confident? Is she worried? Is she convinced she’s going to fail? All these aspects together slowly build the character. Robin is an introvert. How do her inner thoughts get her to act like a risktaker rather than the shy, reserved person she is?
The R in PAIRS stands for reactions. In science we learned Newton’s third law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. When building character, the author has to add how the character will react in a particular situation. For example, in the story Robin bumps into a stranger in a coffee shop, dumping her ice capp all over him, most of it landing on his abdomen and lower and the chest of her shirt. How does she react? Because her reactions can and will set a vital aspect of the story in motion.
The last letter in PAIRS is speech. It’s more than what a character says, it’s how they say it. For example, a highly educated author isn’t going to say, “ya wanna eat?” She’ll enunciate and use her grammar properly. “Would you like to get something to eat?” Sometimes, tossing in foreign words is necessary to make a character more realistic, too, especially if that aspect of the character is what makes him or her different.
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Welcome to this year’s A to Z challenge. I will be posting on various aspects of my writing, and I’m a day late starting–not the most auspicious way to begin the challenge. Unfortunately, life catches up with all of us.
If you’ve read any of my books, you’ll know that I thrive on description. Most editors will tell you to avoid using figurative language–just the facts, ma’am-but I thrive on it. Why? Because it is part and parcel of my daily speech. It’s what makes me, me. Even now, the online editor is telling me to change ‘part and parcel’ to ‘part,’ but to me that takes away from what I want to say.
So, let’s get going, shall we?
Today’s letter is A for adage. An adage is a proverb or short statement that expresses a general truth. In this case, today’s adage is a day late and a dollar short. When a person is a day late and a dollar short, he or she hasn’t only missed a chance to do something because they were late or remiss, they’ve also failed to put the necessary effort into it.
I fully intended to start my posts yesterday, but time wasn’t on my side. I got caught up in personal stuff and missed the opportunity. In my stories, it sometimes happens that one of my characters will do the same. Have you ever been a day late and a dollar short?
A second thing that is part and parcel (there it is again) of my writing is the use of a beta reader. A beta reader is a person who reads a manuscript either during its creation or after and does so with a critical eye, looking for plot holes, examining grammar, spelling, characterization, and suggesting improvements to the story before it’s published. In at least one case, a beta reader was instrumental in changing the starting point of a story. In another, she pointed out that words, common in Canada, might be confusing to readers from other countries. For example, every Canadian knows what a tuque, sometimes spelled toque is a warm knitted cap, traditionally made of wool and usually worn in winter. Some people claim it’s a synonym for a beanie, but it really isn’t. It’s pulled down over the ears and often has a pompom on top. Another example was the use of gator. The beta reader came from an urban area in the Southern US and the only gator she was familiar with was the one in the top picture, whereas what I meant the second one, a small, all-terrain utility vehicle produced by the John Deere Corporation. Gators typically feature a box bed, similar in function to a pickup truck, and can be used to pull small trailers loaded with goods such as a couple of bales of hay, etc. In my case, the gator was moving drugs from a boat and carrying bodies to the lake to dump them!
Wow! The last week of March is upon us. While we’ve had a few mild days, it doesn’t look as if Old Man Winter is ready to release us just yet. This week’s scene takes on an ominous note as Eva learns a bit more about herself and her early years. Our word prompt is LEAF. Enjoy.
Cal and I paged through the book, stopping to admire the various pictures of me as a newborn with a ginger fuzz for hair. There were some with my father, a couple with my mother, and several with Uncle Seamus, including one of the four of us, not unlike the framed picture Molly had given me. While both men were proud and happy, Mom looked haunted, her eyes fixed in that blank stare I knew all too well.
Here and there, Mom had added notes, in French, most of them clinical, devoid of emotion. Eva drank six ounces of formula at each of her feedings today. Others sparkled with joy. Eva smiled at me today. Ray claims it’s just gas, but I know better. Ray must’ve been Raymonde, my godmother. She was only mentioned that one time, and there were no pictures of us—no pictures from my Baptism, simply the date it had happened and who’d been there, with a notation. Michel couldn’t come. I think he’s angry with me. Ryan says I’m being ridiculous, but his brother was there—he’s alwayshere. Why had she underlined the word always? It sounded as if she resented her brother-in-law. I would ask Aunt Lucie why she and Uncle Michel hadn’t attended.
The red-gold curls, the color of an oak leaf in autumn, replaced the orange fuzz, and the entries changed, becoming more like a diary than a book of baby milestones. The last one made me shiver. Ryan wasn’t here again tonight. He claims he needs to be at the resort. Has he replaced me? Eva could’ve died tonight. My hands were soapy. She slipped through my fingers and banged her head in the tub. I can’t do this. God knows I can’t do this. Were these early signs of the paranoia to come?
There were no more entries, no pictures even though the book had space for each of my next ten birthdays and my first day of school. Had she wanted to fill it in, she couldn’t have since she’d left it here, along with everything else that could’ve reminded her of her husband, everything except me.
I closed the book and set it on the coffee table, reaching for my beer.
“Not what you’d hoped for, was it?”
“Not really, but it’s still more than what I knew.”
That’s it. Stay safe and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales
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Happy spring! Welcome to this week’s Tuedsay Tales. This week we have another word prompt. NAIL. I used a from of the word, FINGERNAIL. I’m continuing with Sea Breeze. Enjoy.
I followed Cal toward the front of the store, almost bumping into him when he stopped before another door. He unlocked it and turned on the light.
There were a dozen stairs disappearing into the darkness.
“The second light switch is right here,” he said, flicking it. “Feel free to come down here any time you want to. Supplies for the store and the boat are on the left. The stuff I took out of the storage on the third floor of the main house is over there. There are a few pieces of child-sized furniture that must’ve been yours. Seamus went through it all, tossed some stuff away, but what he kept are in those twelve storage bins. Unfortunately, he didn’t mark any of them, so you’ll have to open them up and look inside.”
I nodded.
“I won’t be long. Are you sure you’ll be okay? I can promise that while there may be a bug or two, there aren’t any mice.”
“Good to know.” If I saw a mouse, I would be hanging by my fingernails from the rafters when he came back to find me.
“Alexa, play my rainy-day playlist,” Cal said.
“Playing Cal’s rainy day play list,” the mechanical voice answered. The sounds of a guitar filled the room.
At my shocked face, Cal smiled. “It’s a collection of folk tunes I enjoy. If you would like to hear something different, just tell her. I won’t be long.”
With that he left, and I walked over to the pile of bins with “The Leader of the Band” playing softly in the background.
The bins were stacked two high and six across. The first one was too heavy for me to lift down, but the second one was lighter. I pulled it off the other and removed the lid. I sneezed. The bin was filled with clothes, and someone had added pepper to it to keep the bugs out. I reached inside and removed women’s clothes in a size much smaller than what I wore. These must’ve been the garments my mother left behind. Who had folded them so carefully? Halfway to the bottom, I found a child’s clothes. Mine? Most likely. Most likely, these could go to the local thrift store. At the bottom of the bin, I found a knitted baby bonnet, sweater, and booties. These I would keep. Setting them aside, I refilled the bin.
That’s it. Stay safe and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales
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Ex-special ops legend Dane Blaise never wanted a partner, but he owed the governor. Working alongside gorgeous Scotland Yard detective Shana George to find a missing heiress would either drive him crazy–or get someone killed….
Before disappearing, the beautiful heiress entered a surfing competition on Martha’s Vineyard. Dane and Shana go undercover in the competition to track her down, but they find far more than they expected. The shady operation is backed by international players in the human trafficking trade. And now the human traffickers have their sights on Shana.
Dane is determined not to lose another woman on his watch, but can he stop himself from losing his heart and soul to Shana George?
For U.S. Navy SEAL, Bowie “Ruckus” Cooper, going on a mission into the most dangerous place on earth wasn’t new, neither were the orders to tag and bag an international criminal, but when Bowie finds a captive American reporter, that wasn’t exactly run of the mill. Neither was getting separated from his team, teaming up with her or protecting her against all odds, while working to keep his hands from around her neck and off her delectable body.
Fearless and bold photojournalist, Dana Sorenson never backed down from a fight or to showcase her dedication to reporting on the human condition. That’s what she thought until she meets Bowie and big, bad, and tough takes on a whole new meaning. Gratitude for saving her ass gets lost in his demanding orders and fighting for her life takes a back seat to falling for this alpha male who’ll risk everything to see her safe.
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After Ten Years Apart, Ashley Mitchum And Brian O’Neill Are Fatefully Reunited In Crystal Rock. Will Unveiling Their Families’ Dark Family Secrets Heal Two Wounded Hearts?
Growing up together in Crystal Rock, Wisconsin, Ashley Mitchum & Brian O’Neill have been at odds for years. Conniving and sometimes cruel when she doesn’t get her way, Ashley is someone Brian doesn’t want to feel attracted to.
Ashley’s the first one to admit she’s been spoiled rotten by her family. Brian has interfered with every relationship she’s ever had, but yet she’s never had the courage to tell him off.
It’s the summer after high school graduation, and one more week before Ashley will be moving to California for college, while Brian will be entering the army. The dynamic of their relationship suddenly changes when they share a haunting kiss.
Ashley finally realizes she’s been avoiding admitting her feelings for Brian because she’d have to make a serious commitment. But Brian is determined to make her understand they belong together, despite splitting up and focusing on careers.
But tragedy strikes when a Ponzi scheme is exposed, the accused being none other than Ashley’s father, who’s supposedly run away with Brian’s mother. The situation becomes more complicated when Ashley’s best friend’s father commits suicide after supposedly losing every penny in the scheme.
Forced apart by circumstances, Ashley and Brian are fatefully reunited in Crystal Rock ten years later. Will unveiling their families’ dark family secrets heal two wounded hearts?
Come visit Alaska! Romance sparkled with comedy and Brightened with second chances at the northern-most city in America.
Enjoy an Alaska summer with a stranded college graduate student and the young Inupiat medico who helps the spoiled and opinionated young woman grow up.
Sparks (and sutures) change their lives while working on an archaeological dig in the village of Barrow in 1994. Was she the woman of his dreams – his Red Raven – or just another cheechako, a tenderfoot from the outside world looking for excitement or a news story in his remote Alaskan village?
The trials, frustrations, and richness of life in Barrow (Utqiaģvik), Alaska and the local ‘healer’ change snobby intern Alexandra Oppenheimer’s philosophy on life in 1994. Twenty-two years later, will the area be the same? And will Rocky have returned to it, too?
ICE agent Quinlan McKenna Farrell is well acquainted with the darker side of human nature. His failure to bring down a human trafficking ring in Texas haunts him. Then he meets Luz Delgado, taken off the streets and sold to Quin as a virgin. He soon learns she’s an American who is trying to save her brother. Luz soon realizes Quin can read people and communicate with animals—psychic abilities inherited from his grandmother. Quin tries to protect Luz, but she’s determined to help bring down the human trafficking operation. And when she goes missing, a panicked Quin realizes Luz is his grandmother’s love legacy for him.
Paranormal Detective Ellie Taggart, a rakshasa capable of assuming the shape of a tigress, has always worked alone, searching for those responsible for her mother’s murder. When an investigation results in the death of a close friend and vampire, she’s forced to partner with handsome and mysterious peredhil, Steve Cassidy. Like her, the half-human, half-elf uses his special talents to fight evil wherever it exists. Rogue vampires, shapeshifters, zombies, practitioners of black magic, poltergeists, ghosts—none of them can beat him. That is until someone or something no longer plays by the rules. There’s a new villain in New Orleans, one who threatens both the humans and non-humans who make the city home. Is the enemy Draug, the wizard who murdered Ellie’s mother centuries ago? Is it someone from Steve’s shrouded past intent on revenge? Or are they facing a new enemy with an agenda all his or her own? As the tigress and her partner search for answers, trying to prevent the bodies from piling up, they must manage conflicting emotions and desires that threaten to overwhelm them. Can two such different creatures of the light join forces to defeat the darkness, or will the powers of evil triumph?
Today’s he’s a member of Elite Force Security, but sixteen years ago he belonged to one of the wealthiest families in Connecticut. Following his father’s conviction for investment fraud, Connor Anderson left behind his privileged life and everyone associated with it, including Becca André. All that changes the morning she sits down next to him inside a busy D.C. café and asks him to lunch.
For the past four years, Becca has worked in Washington, D.C., where the greatest physical threat she faces each day is a paper cut. However, everything changes when Becca’s stepsister goes missing and someone tries to kidnap her. Now, the only person she can rely on is her long-ago summer fling, Connor. A man she never forgot and the one she’s falling in love with again.
Despite the women who’ve passed through his life, Becca is the only one Connor’s ever truly cared about. And he’ll do anything to keep her safe. But will it be enough?
An introvert, Special Agent Francesca moves to Las Vegas to escape her powerful, domineering mother. On arrival, multiple obstacles challenge her. She needs to approach a father she’s never met, a man who doesn’t even know she exists. Then she must play the role of a loving fiancée with a stranger. One who makes her question every unexpected emotion he provokes. Craving the chance for real undercover work, she grabs the opportunity to be involved in cleaning up gang corruption in a nasty neighborhood. When she poses as the new owner of a hotel, the deadly-dangerous situation ramps up and she’s forced to fight her way from one conflict to the next.
Sean Collins, Psychiatrist and LVPD Profiler has never known anyone like Francesca Donovan. From first sight, he believes her to be a screwball but her beauty and maddening personality attracts him. Despite her prickly disposition, which gets them into a load of trouble, her rotten driving skills and her constant battles, he’s hooked. Once he’s roped into a mock engagement with her, his desire to make it real takes precedence over everything else in his world.
Tiffany Chanler, gun carrying, armored guard, guardian of donor organs, a driver for Angel Wings, convinced she was right. Others need to change. She prides her persona on badassery. Everything she does has a purpose. She owns it.
Tiffany was born wealthy because you can’t pick your parents, but her hero self has no time for that materialistic lifestyle. She trained to eat fear for breakfast. Then stop at the gas station to pick up cat food.
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Living the Dream 