Welcome to my world and beyond...

A collection of snippets of the books I write and, occasionally, my life and the things that inspire my writing...

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Weekend Writing Warriors December 13, 2015

     
    
Hello all.  Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, a weekly bloghop.  Each week, participants sign up HERE at wewriwa.com, then post 8 to 10 sentences of their work, published or unpublished, to go live between noon, Saturday, and 9:00 AM Sunday EST. Then we visit each other and read, comment, critique, encourage--all those things that do a solitary writer's heart good. 
              Snippet Sunday group from facebook--not us, but many of our participants do both, can be found HERE

This week, I'm excerpting from a short story called, "Jack and the Christmas Journey."

It's the beginning of chapter three. The MC, sixty-something year old Tildie--who was widowed three years ago, is not happy about her little group of friends dragging her out of her house to go Christmas shopping. It's been three years since she lost her husband Harp, and she's still working through it all, teetering between grief, and a need to get on with her life. She is the POV character. Carol, Lindy, and Sissy are her friends. Ben is a man from her past. It's five days before Christmas.

The Snippet:
     By the time they sat down to order food, by Tildie's estimate it was well past lunchtime. She needed to collect her thoughts and catch her breath. They chose The Brick Oven right in the mall, rather than fighting traffic on the way to one of the eateries downtown.
     From where they sat, they could watch passersby, and see most of the restaurant. They were chatting away, commenting on what people were wearing, when a familiar face appeared among the mall walkers. Ben
     Carol sighed. "Man oh man, I think he looks good with gray hair."
     Lindy chirped, "He'd look good with green hair, or purple hair, or even no hair."
     Sissy said through a smile, ""The man's still got it." 


That's it. Any comments or criticisms are greatly appreciated. I learn from them all--for the next time--even though this one is already published.

Before I go any further, I want to apologize for not making the rounds last week.  I will do better this week. A week ago Friday, we buried my 63 year old sister. She'd had a heart attack. She was in reasonably good health. A shock to all of us-- there were 8 kids in my family. 

Saturday, I had a holiday gathering scheduled. I went ahead with it--it was actually better to stay busy. By Saturday evening, I was flat out exhausted. Life is like that sometimes. I needed a day to rest before the week started all over again. And as much as I love wewriwa-- and all of you dear-to-my-heart participants, I rested.

Then this week, my first ever published work happened. I signed my first contract. Went through editing passes. The whole process is surreal. Pinch me. Reviews... Someone talk me down from this cloud. I keep wishing I could bottle the feeling--so I could open it later when there's bad reviews somewhere along the road of my writing career.  :-)

Thank you, Victory Tales Press, and their acquisition editor, Karen Michelle Nutt


 I'm pretty proud of this.








44 comments:

  1. Love the dialogue! From experience, I can say older women do talk about attractive older men... just like that. Well done, can't wait for more.

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    1. Thanks, Kim :-) I may have uttered words like that when I'm with my friends, too. I tried to channel that. :-) I'm glad it worked!

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  2. Nice. It made me smile. Also nice to read about older characters.

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    1. Thanks, Cara! :-) There aren't so many books about older characters, huh? I think Charmaine Gordon might be on to something with her senior genre. :-)

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  3. Aw I have the feeling this is going to be a feel-good story without being icky-sweet, LOL! Immediately the characters are so relatable. Nice job.

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    1. :-) I sure tried to keep away from icky-sweet. Then again, only so far away since it is sweet romance. :-) I tried to channel my inner Steel Magnolia for her friends. ;-)

      Thanks for the visit, Marcia!

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  4. Love the girl-talk! And my husband's name is Ben, so I'm predisposed to like this guy. :-)

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  5. Teresa, your new story is so natural, it rings true. As a former widow now remarried, I went through all the grief and came out on top.
    Regarding your recent loss, my heart goes out to you and your loved ones. She will always be with you.

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  6. I loved this story and congratulations again on the release! Hugs re the sad loss of your sister...

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  7. Sorry to hear about your sister. It's always shocking how things like that can come out of the blue with no warning.

    Congratulations on the release. That must be a wonderful feeling!

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  8. Sorry about your sister.
    Congrats on the new publication. Life goes up & down.

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  9. God, what a week. Congratulations and condolences. Go with that impulse to hang on to the joy of being published for the first time. Really enjoyed the snippet.

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  10. Great joy and great sorrow. Congratulations and my sincerest condolences. Hope you continue to make the best of it during this difficult time. As for your snippet, it is simply delightful. The scene is set beautifully and I get a wonderful sense of both Tildie and Ben immediately. Can't wait for more!

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    1. Thanks, Jenna. The ups and downs of life, huh?

      I'm glad you liked the snippet. :-)

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  11. I love this snippet. I am betting Ben will help. Congratulations on your publication and my condolences on your loss. Your need to rest is very much understandable.

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    1. Thanks, Stephanie. Another week that shows life truly is full of ups and downs. No such thing as stasis...

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  12. This is a wonderful heartwarming tale. I loved all the characters and of course I adored Jack (the doggy). How could I not, when I have my own Jack. I know he wasn't the same type of dog, but I kept picturing my little guy. :)

    Re your sister: I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. She was so young too, but it's never easy loosing those we love no matter their age. Hugs to you.

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    1. Thanks, Karen. My old Pokey puppy was a Border Collie mix who lived for 15 years. Loads of memories to pull from there. But using his name just felt too close. My current four legged pal is Leo. Your Jack (in the pic with you?) is a cutie for sure.

      You're right. No matter our loved ones' ages, it's hard to say goodbye.

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  13. Congrats on the contract, and I'm very sorry about your sister. No wonder you needed to rest. I think this sounded very much like a group of ladies that I know well.
    it sounded real to me.

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    1. I'm so glad they seem real to you! Thanks, Elaine. :-)

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  14. Great dialogue, Teresa, and a terrific snippet.

    I'm so, so sorry to hear about your sister. Take care of yourself!

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  15. He should dye his hair green. :)

    My condolences on your loss.

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    1. Green would add a spoke of humor. :-) Thank you, Caitlin.

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  16. Losing someone at the holiday season seems extra hard. Welcome back to WeWriWa, though, and congratulations on your sale.

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  17. *hugs* My sincerest condolence for your loss. Holidays can be especially hard to deal with personal family tragedies.

    Your fiction is still in top form, of course. I feel like this will totally be me and my group of friends in 30 years or so. :-)

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  18. Love the dialogue here. Really good.

    So sorry for your loss.

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  19. What a bittersweet week you had-the loss of a sibling and a first contracted work to boot. I'm sorry for your loss.

    Enjoyed the snippet--sounds like her friends might be up for a bit of matchmaking when Ben arrives on the scene.

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    1. It was bittersweet...

      Thanks for the read. There will be matchmaking going on.

      Thanks, Rose. :-)

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  20. Great snippet! The final lines made me smile. Congratulations for your contract, and I'm terribly sorry about your loss.

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  21. It never ceases to amaze me when life hits us with bittersweet news. I know how it feel. Very sorry for your loss, and at Christmas too, but I know the pain will be eased with your first publication. How wonderful :)
    (nice scene...Lindy's comment the best)

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    1. It surprises me how frequently it happens, Sharon. And I'm sorry your familiar with the feeling... Thank you for stopping by.

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  22. A week of highs and lows. Condolences on your sister.
    It certainly seems her friends are trying to set her up. Wonder if Ben showing up is just a coincidence?
    Kudos on your book.

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    1. Thanks, Chelle. It's been a bittersweet mix of mail the last two weeks, sympathy cards arriving along with Christmas cards. I'm really hurting for her husband, sons, and grands right now.

      Thanks for stopping by. :-)

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