WeWriWa Snippet for 8/7/16

I can’t say I’m starting a new WIP, since this one has actually been in the works for about a year (though not much actual writing seems to have happened during that time frame) but it is the first time I’ve made it a part of the WeWriWa blog hop. The working title is Shattered Glass. It’s a contemporary project inspired by a blog post I read a few years back.

Even though I’ve rewritten the opening a few dozen times now, and it has gotten a little better each time, I’m still not happy with it, so if anyone has any suggestions, don’t be afraid to share them. Thanks!

By the time Harlow Kynestov accepted the fact that no matter how many times she paced around the little cabin she’d rented, she wasn’t going to get any cell phone service and made the short trek from the cabin to the micro town of Sun Spot Wyoming, only one of Sun Spot’s three businesses, the Elk Snort Bar and Grill, remained open. This would have been fine if it had looked like a reputable establishment, but with its half burned out neon sign, cracked siding, dirty windows, and weed choked parking lot, Harlow thought it looked like exactly the kind of place a horde of chainsaw wielding, homicidal mountain men would prefer.

It wasn’t the type of place she ever wanted to step foot in. Just standing in the parking lot was closer than she wanted to be.

Harlow stared at her cell phone and willed the little icon to announce there was signal. It didn’t have to be strong, just enough to place one, maybe two phone calls, and she’d be happy.

            Luck wasn’t on her side. She shouldn’t have expected it to be. Nothing about today, or the past six months for that matter, had gone right, why should things change now?

            “I didn’t even know places still existed that didn’t get cell phone signal,” she muttered to herself.

Weekend Writing Warriors Post 6/25/16 #WeWriWa

Welcome to another WeWriWa Sunday! I hope everyone is enjoying this summertime weather, I sure am!

This week I'm waiting for the Sweetie mare at the stable where I'm an intern to have the last foal for the 2016 foaling season. I love the babies, but I'm ready to be done with aspect of life and move onto other things. Mares have to be checked every single hour which gets old fast.

I'm still posting from my short story, Pig in a Poke, which was published just one year ago in the The

Chocolate House-All for One-Anthology. The story is set in Bath, England towards the end of the Georgian period. This particular snippet is the first time the 2 MC's interact. It picks up where the last snippet I posted ends.


       Letty crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. 

“You’re perfectly correct to draw attention to my ill manners. Please accept my heartfelt apology,” Simon continued, humor thickening his voice. “The next time I happen upon a young woman yelling in the street, I shall endeavor to cover my ears and walk on past. My only excuse is that I'm a business man.”

Letty firmly reminded herself she was a lady and that ladies did not kick gentleman in the shins, no matter how tempting the action might be. “I fail to see how that’s any concern of mine.”

“I am the owner of the shop just across the street.” Simon gestured towards a building on the opposite side of the street. Several elegant hats were displayed in the window.

Weekend Writing Warriors Post 6/12/16

Howdy! It's Sunday, which means it's time for the weekly WeWriWa blog hop, a fun opportunities for a wide assortment of writers to show off a snippet of their writing. Participant's represent a wide assortment of genres, writing styles, and differing backgrounds. It's a fun opportunity.

I'm still posting from my short story, Pig in a Poke, which was published just one year ago in the The Chocolate House-All for One-Anthology. The story is set in Bath, England towards the end of the Georgian period. This particular snippet does an excellent job of demonstrating how frustrated I've become with the romance genre's tendency to stick to male protagonists that look like Greek gods instead of average blokes. It's entirely possible that some creative editing was required to make this snip meet the 10 sentance limit!

The newcomer wasn’t unattractive, but he also wasn’t the type of man who’d cause eligible ladies to swoon and giggle when he walked past. Average height with a slenderness that didn’t appear to be from physical exertion so much as a tendency to skip too many meals, which, based on the fine cut of his clothes, had been missed by absentmindedness rather than lack of means.

His features were symmetrical and even, but again, average: a straight nose, straight mouth, cheekbones that were neither too high nor too low, faint cleft in the chin, gold spectacles magnified a pair of cerulean eyes that were lit with a deep intelligence. His pale, unblemished skin suggested he spent most of his time indoors. Dark blond hair peeked out from beneath his hat, wound into tight curls, and twisted around his one extraordinary feature, a cute pair of jug ears.

The scent of tobacco, ink, and paper wafted from his clothing.

He lacked the type of countenance that caused girls to swoon and sigh when men passed them on the street yet there was something about him that Letty found immensely pleasing. The longer she gazed upon him, the more smoothly his features seemed to fit together and the more striking he grew.

The stranger removed his hat and dipped into a deep bow. “Simon Harper, at your service.”