#WeWriWa Snippet December 21st Snowflakes & Beeswax

So, is everyone having a fabulous holiday season? I certinaly hope so.

Since it's the holiday season (and because I'm not happy with anything I've written lately) I decided to post from my historical rural romance novella, Snowflakes & Beeswax which is a holiday story set during the Georgian period.Make sure you take the time to check out the official WeWriWa list to see what participating authors have posted. It's quite a selection!

      

      Once the log was cut, Madelyn ran over and helped him load it into the back of the sleigh. She stood on the runner and beamed at him.

            “It’s beautiful.”

            “Is it?” Oliver had never been the kind of person who looked at a hunk of wet wood that had a few clumps of snow clinging to the rough bark and thought the sight was pretty. But if Madelyn thought it was, he was willing to try to see the thing through her eyes.

She knew his thoughts. Madelyn bumped her shoulder against his side, the move startling bold for such a shy woman, and grinned up at him

Thanks for stopping by my blog and taking the time to read my snippet!

Sunday 11/17/13 #WeWriWa Snippet from Snowflakes & Beeswax

Hi! After nearly a month away, I'm back with a snippet for the Weekend Writing Warriors (WeWriWa) and Sunday Snippet blog hop. The snippet I'm posting comes from my Georgian era romance novella, Snowflakes & Beeswax. I hope you like it!

Oliver nearly stabbed her.

Madelyn was buried under so much hay only her face and a few patches of her red cloak exposed. It was too late to stop the downward movement of the fork. At the last moment he changed the angle of the pitchfork thrust and sent the tines deep in to the stack well away from Madelyn’s skin. He swallowed and shoved his shaking hands into his pocket. Damning images flashed through his mind. If his reflexes were slower, if she was covered with more hay, if he hadn’t looked she’d be severely injured right now. He sucked in a deep breath and focused on the immediate problem.     

I originally wrote Snowflakes & Beeswax for an anthology. After it was rejected, I cleaned it up and decided to self-publish. This kisses-only novella is about 21,000 words long. Both the paperback and ebook versions are currently available from Amazon.

Snowflakes & Beeswax #WeWriWa snippet 10/13/13

Hi all! Welcome to another Sunday of great writing snippet!

This week I skimmed through my Georgian era romance novella and jumped a few chapters ahead for my snippet. It's the snippet where the MC, Oliver, realizes he shouldn't have left and returns to the little Northern England farm.

Be sure to spend a few minutes to check out the Weekend Writing Warriors for a complete list of the talented group of writing participating in this week's event.

Thanks for stopping by!

Snowflakes caught on the bay’s short mane creating a delicate, lacelike net on the dark hair as Oliver halted next to the Hawthorne tree and dismounted. 

He glanced at the sky, measuring the position of the sun’s glow in the otherwise gray sky. Mid-afternoon. He still had a few hours before the sun set.  

Perfect timing. 

He’d stay for a few moments, maybe have a cup of tea, and ensure himself all was well at the little farm before finding a room at the inn.   

He’d worry about explaining his appearance at her door when the she asked; right now he needed to make sure she was safe. He hoped seeing her would ease the gnawing ache which had been growing gradually stronger with each step his mount took away from the Wickham farm.

Taking the Plunge

Earlier this year, I started writing Snowflakes & Beeswax. It was the first time I had ever written for the sole purpose of having something that could be submitted to an anthology. When I first started out, I was jumpy. Just because I wrote something that conformed to the submission guidelines there was no guarantee it would be accepted, Than what. Those same guidelines meant the story wouldn’t be suitable for much. The word count alone made things tricky. It was going to either be too long or too short for most competitions.

Even though the story was going to be short, I wasn’t silly. It was going to be a huge time commitment. Time I could spend hanging out with my horses, working on a longer, more marketable project, or doing paid copywriting assignments.

Before I started writing, I sat down and had a long chat with myself about what would happen if I wrote the story and it didn’t get accepted.

I figured I had three choices.

• I could tuck the manuscript in the bottom of my desk drawer and forget about it
• I could extend what was essentially a 20,000 word story into a novel. Up the steam level (the submission guidelines were specific about it being a kisses only story) and add some sub-plot.
• I could self-publish

Option 1 still has some appeal, but at some point I’m going to have to take a chance on my writing. Besides, I had already dedicated quite a bit of time to the story, time that could have been spent copywriting and earning an income. If I tucked the story into the bottom of my desk all that time would be wasted. Besides, I liked the characters I had created, they deserved better than an eternity stuffed into the bottom of a desk drawer.

Through the 1st and 2nd drafts, I thought I would take option 2. It made the most sense to me. But, the more I got to know my characters, the less I liked that idea. Somehow padding and extending their story just didn’t feel right. The more I thought about it, the less I liked the idea of extending the story. Besides, this was a Christmas story, even if I was able to create a kick butt manuscript, how many openings would be available. Most of the Christmas stories I’ve seen published have been written by authors who have several published novels under their belt.

The third choice is the scariest, but it’s also the one I’m going to take. Even though I don’t expect Snowflakes & Beeswax to set the world on fire, I really don’t have any expectations at all. I think I’ve written a cute little story and I love both my MC’s.

I’m going into the experience with the attitude that this will be a learning experience more than a money making venture. It’s a good opportunity to get a stronger idea of what it takes to get a book off my harddrive and into a place where others can read it. Plus, it’s going to be a great opportunity to work on honing my marketing skills, which could use a lot of work.

If everything goes according to plan, Snowflakes & Beeswax should be available on November 1st.

July 14th's #WeWriWa Writing Snippet

I know I was derelict the last time I posted and didn’t respond to comments. I swear it wasn’t my fault. Balthazar’s (my beloved Toshiba laptop) space bar broke. It turns out that trying to type without a space bar isn’t easy. My back up computer has a space bar, but no internet capabilities. Bouncing between the two while copywriting was challenging enough, blog hopping proved to be more than my patience could handle. Now,  I ‘ve got a new keyboard and peace (or at least something loosely resembling it) should be restored to my computing life.

I’m still posting from my Georgian/regency era novella, Snowflakes & Beeswax. It’s a Christmassy, romantic story that takes place on a remote farm somewhere in Northern England.

Make sure you take some time and check out the other talented authors who decided to participate in this weekend’s blog hop. Links to their snippets can be found at the Weekend Writing Warrior's website and the Sunday Snippet Facebook group.

“Jack!” With a swish of chocolate colored skirt, a young woman stepped in front of Oliver. She stroked the dog’s head with a shaking hand. “Jack, quiet!”

            Oliver barely heard the command over the dog’s snarls but the dog must have. The animal leaned against her leg, his mismatched eyes stayed focused on the men. Oliver drew himself up to his full height, puffed out his chest, and smoothed the wrinkles from his clothing.       

Madelyn Wickham.

My Weekly #WeWriWa #8Sunday Post 6/2/13

I'm back again with another 8 sentence snippet from my regency/Georgian era Christmas story, Snowflakes & Beeswax. It's a Christmas story, which feels a little weird now that it's officially June and finally starting to warm up a bit.

Be sure to check out Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday for links leading to snippets that have been written by some wonderfully talented writers.

Oliver ignored him and walked through the vapor streaming from the team of white Percherons' muzzles and moved towards the small cottage on the far side of the garden. A peach and gray colored kitten skulked out from behind a pile of firewood, saw him, and scrambled up the nearest tree trunk.

He swallowed, desperate to moisten his dry mouth as anticipation bubbled up inside of him.

He enjoyed the trips Queen Charlotte bid he make on her behalf. They provided him with a chance to escape the insanity that currently seemed to have the entire royal staff in its clutches, as well as on opportunity to escape the nerve-wracking encounters with the three young ladies who seemed to have decided he was a good marriage prospect.

Opportunities to visit this particular farm remained his favorite requests.

 “I fail to understand why anyone would choose to live this way. With his talent, Mr. Wickham would be successful in London, and he wouldn’t have to bother with cows, sheep, and pigs.”