Writing Wednesday: Three In One

I realized that I am currently working on three different stories that are all in the same series. I’m editing Flames of Redemption(#1), drafting Flames of Renewal(#2), and plotting Flames of Retribution(#3). This is something that probably won’t happen very often. It probably wouldn’t be now if Mark would leave me alone and not insist I get to his story(which is #3). I’m almost done drafting Renewal and almost done plotting Retribution, so I may be able to start writing it before next week. Renewal is low on the word count. Only have 1 more scene left to write and it’s just over 60k. I do usually add words during the 2nd draft, so I’m sure it will end up longer before anyone else reads it.

Now, before I get to my ROW80 check-in, I have my WiPPet snippet to share. I couldn’t decide on anything to share from Flames of Renewal, so I decided to share a bit from a kind of bonus scene I wrote. It’s from this scene that I shared a couple weeks ago. Only it’s something that James didn’t see happen and could only be told from Mark’s POV. These 2 will be the MCs in the next story. But, Mark’s first impression of Caitie is that she’s a teenager(she’s actually 28). So, he’s rather disturbed by his reaction to her. 32 sentences(7+30-1-4).

The girl’s eyes came up to his, and he was almost knocked over by them. They didn’t look like a teenager’s eyes. Too much heat, too much knowledge. Not nearly enough innocence.
One of the men stepped in front of her, nearly eclipsing his vision of her. “Who are you?”
“Mark Young. I’m with the fire department.” He pushed the glasses up to the top of his head now. “And you?”
“Damn it, Brann,” the girl said, stepping in front of him. “I don’t care if you are my big brother, I’m the one that set this detail up.”
“You did?” Mark asked, although he was still stuck on the big brother part. They didn’t look anything alike. She was tiny and light. He was big and dark.
She turned to him, her eyes like blue fire. “Yes, I did, Mr. Badass Marine. What did you think? A woman couldn’t handle this kind of thing? I’ll have you know,-”
He held up a hand. “What did you call me?” He could barely keep a quiver of laughter from his voice.
“You heard me. That’s what your tattoo means, doesn’t it? Don’t all you Marines think you’re badasses?”
“Caitie,” the man, Brann, groaned behind her.
But, Mark’s lips twitched. “Sure we are. Now, what do you have for me to do?”

Oh, I’m sure I’m going to have fun with these two. 😉

WiPPet is put on by mastermind K.L. Schwengel and anyone is welcome to post their snippet over here. Just watch out for those monkeys hovering in the corner. 😉

Now, for my RoW80 Check-In:

• Flames of Renewal – Finish 1st draft – so, so close. I have one scene left to go. Was struggling a bit with one earlier today. So just wrote the first thing that came into my head for it, and then the words rolled out from there.
• Flames of Redemption – Finish edits – Close on this one too. 4 more chapters to get through.
• Flames of Retribution – Finish plotting – another close one. I just have to do my scene list and summaries, and I’ll be ready to start writing.
• Rick & Leann – 500 words – 346 words so far.
• Read: Because of You(Jessica Scott) & Finding Perfect(Susan Mallery) I enjoyed because of you. And enjoying Finding Perfect, although I think it’s in the middle of a series. It doesn’t effect the story too much really. This was a thrift store find, but I may have to pick up the others in the series.
• Knit: Leaf Lace Washcloth – More than halfway through this. I made a mistake in one of the rows of the pattern repeat and slipped the stitch the wrong way, I think. Didn’t notice it until I had several more rows done. Other than that, it’s looking nice so far.

I should certainly have all of these finished up before the Sunday check-in. Most likely even before the end of the month.

Sunday Summary: Rowing Through Camp

We’ve been camping over in Ohio since Friday afternoon. I did bring my computer, but other than after the kids went to bed and before they were up, I haven’t spent much time on it. Right now the girl is up, but she’s writing in her notepad. Have I ever mentioned how much she takes after me? 😉

Did get some words written on a little bonus scene for Flames of Renewal. I wrote it from James’ POV for in the story. But, I wanted to rewrite it from both Adrian & Kayla’s. Last night I was really glad we had the cabin. My dad and stepmom had just started a campfire at their RV site when it started to rain. We made it back to the cabin just before it really started to rain. It sounded like it was coming down pretty hard with some thunder and lightning as well. Glad we weren’t in a tent at least. Plus there was a coffee maker in the cabin, so I didn’t have to wait for my dad to get up to have my coffee(since I’m usually awake around 4 and he doesn’t get up until 6-7).

I did finish my goal for Camp NaNoWriMo this weekend…from an actual cabin. 🙂 Over 61k in less than a month. That finished one WiP(Stained by Ashes) and got me most of the way through Flames of Renewal. I’m on the climax so only a few more scenes left. And it’s not quite to 60k yet. I do tend to add more during revisions, so it will probably end up longer than that before anyone actually reads it.

We’ve gone swimming twice, spent a good bit of time at the playground, and even went to a festival at a nearby park. They had a lot of craft booths, Civil War & Native American reenactors(two of my big areas of interest) and food, of course. It’s been a pretty good time, but I will be glad to get home this afternoon and to my normal routine.

• Flames of Renewal – Get to 56000 words – Made this one. About 450 past this. That doesn’t count the two bonus scenes I’ve written.
• Flames of Redemption – I’d like to say to do all edits on this. But, that might be pushing things. So, I think I want to get through Ch 16 at least(which would be halfway). – I did make it through Ch 16 by Friday.
• Flames of Retribution – Character Work – done. Will start working through plot points and such this week.
• Rick & Leann – 500 words – I had this done by Tuesday, I think.
• Read: Chasing Shadow(Tia Bach) & Because of You(Jessica Scott) – I enjoyed Chasing Shadows, and really like Because of You. I was also listening to The Bone Season(Samantha Shannon) and finished reading it this weekend(I like being able to switch between the two)
• Crochet: Round Basket – I only finished one out of the three sizes. My yarn got all tangled up trying to do the second one, and I got frustrated. So, I’m not sure I’ll bother with the others.

Next week’s goals:

• Flames of Renewal – Finish 1st draft
• Flames of Redemption – Finish edits
• Flames of Retribution – Finish plotting
• Rick & Leann – 500 words
• Read: Because of You(Jessica Scott) & Finding Perfect(Susan Mallery)
• Knit: Leaf Lace Washcloth

Fiction Friday

This story is almost at its end. You can catch up on it here and here(last week’s).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Garren sat on the stairs, his head resting in his hands. He’d already given his report to the marshal and Michael. The marshal who was on duty had been taken away in a body bag. That made three. He’d killed the man before approaching the house. Obviously their surveillance hadn’t been that hidden.
Garren scrubbed his fingers through his hair. Michelle was gone. Social workers had come to take her away. He didn’t know where. He hadn’t had the strength to ask them. He’d find out later and make sure she was doing okay. Right now, he just wanted to get a drink. He couldn’t leave yet though.
He heard the creak of steps on the stairs but didn’t lift his head. Then, a large hand rested on his arm. “This isn’t your fault, Garren.” Michael. Garren let his head sink farther down.
Michael didn’t leave though. Instead he nudged Garren over and sat beside him on the stairs. “You can’t take this on yourself. It won’t be the last time someone dies on your watch. Especially if you ever want to go into Homicide.”
A shudder ran through him. “Not quite sure I’m cut out for that.”
Michael was silent for a moment, then he said, “I think you’re wrong about that.” Then, he clasped Garren’s shoulder. “There was nothing you could have done tonight. He got the drop on the marshal. He shot through the window. You couldn’t have seen that one coming.”
“I told him to stay away from that damn window.” The words burned coming out.
“And he never listened. That’s not your fault either.”
“She blames me.”
“Michelle? Hateful little-” he broke off with a growl. “She’s hurt and grieving. And probably scared. You can’t let that get to you.” He stood up. “Come on. Let’s get out of here. There’ll be a briefing tomorrow. Right now you should probably get home.”
“Yeah. Right,” he mumbled. Going home was the last thing he wanted to do.
Michael walked with him out to his car, but they didn’t say anything else. Garren waited until he had left for his own vehicle before he grabbed his phone. It rang twice before Ginny’s sweet voice came over the line. “Garren, what is it? I thought you were working tonight.”
He closed his eyes. “Not anymore. Do you want to meet at Johnny’s for some drinks? I could really use a drink right now.”
She was silent for a moment, and he thought she would turn him down. They didn’t have anything serious going on, but the possible rejection still turned his stomach sour. “Yeah, Garren, I can do that,” she finally said. “Are you all right?”
No. Not even close. “Fine. I’ll see you in half an hour then?”
“Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll see you there.”
Garren ended the call and tossed the phone onto the seat beside him. He rubbed his hand over his eyes, as if that would erase the memory of Jonah and Mary laying dead at his feet. Or the one of Michelle throwing all that blame at him. He let out a long breath then jammed the key in the ignition. He needed to get out of here. Maybe a drink would help him erase the images.

***

Garren was just ordering his second whiskey when he felt her walk up behind him. He didn’t turn around though while the bartender slid the glass over to him. He only closed his eyes when she put her hand on his shoulder.
“You get started without me?”
The words should have been joking, but he could hear the worry behind them. “I’m only one ahead. I’m sure you can catch up.”
He saw the glass shake as he brought it to his mouth. Ginny moved to the stool beside him and gave the bartender her order. Then, her hand slid along his leg. “What happened, Garren? You said you were working all night.”
“Not now,” he said then drained the rest of the whiskey before gesturing to the bartender for another.
“Damn it, Garren,” she said, her hand coming up to his arm. “Drinking is one thing, but you need to slow down. What the hell happened tonight?”
“They’re dead.”
Her hand fell away from his arm for a moment then quickly returned, and she was tugging him away from the bar stool. “Come on. Let’s find a table, and you can tell me.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said but let her lead him away. “I just want to forget.”
“This isn’t the way.” She nudged him into the booth then slid in beside him rather than taking the other side. “Can you tell me what happened? Or is it classified or something?”
He shook his head, but her question brought a hint of a smile to his lips. “I don’t know what details they’re releasing, but I think I can tell you. You won’t run to the media with it, will you?”
“Of course not, Garren.”
He’d been teasing her, but by her response, he didn’t think that had come across. He opened his mouth, but the words didn’t want to come. He dropped his head back into his hands. “God, this has been a miserable night.”
She ran her fingers in circles over his shoulder. “What happened?” She asked again.
He drew in a shuddering breath. “One of the marshals is dead. Two of the three I was supposed to protect are dead. Only their daughter is left.”
He lifted his glass again, but his hand shook so bad the ice rattled against the glass and some whiskey splashed over the side. Ginny took the glass from him and set it back on the table.
“Why are you blaming yourself for that? You kept her safe obviously.” Her gaze did a quick scan down and back up him. “And yourself, it looks like.”
He could hear the relief in her voice at that. But, it didn’t get all the way through the ice surrounding him. “Because it was my job to protect them. And I failed.” His forehead thunked against the top of the table. “She blames me, and I can’t fault her for that.”
“Why, Garren? You’re a patrol officer. You’re supposed to be out on the streets, not in someone’s house making sure someone doesn’t break in. What could you have done differently?”
“I don’t know. Something. There had to be something.” He reached for the glass again and brought it to his lips despite the shaking of his hand. When he had drained it, he waved a waitress over for another one. He heard Ginny’s curse but ignored it.
“I like going out for drinks with you, Garren, but you don’t usually do this.”
He lifted his eyes to her then. “Then, why are you still here?”
He saw her face pale and felt a prick of guilt over it. But, he didn’t apologize.
“Because you need me here. And it looks like you’re going to need someone to take you home.”
“I don’t need you for that,” he said, looking up at her, his words slurring together already.
He didn’t know what to make of the look in her eyes. It wasn’t happy though. “I doubt you’ll be up for that by the time I get you out of here. But, I’ll take you home.”
He brushed those words off and raised the drink the waitress brought over. All he wanted right now was to forget.

 

Writing Wednesday: Continuing Productivity

This pretty much explains how the writing has been so far this week:

I guess @EMCastellan must have sent my magic quill back. 😉 Over 2600 words written this morning. Good way to start the day.

— Fallon Brown (@frbrown906) July 21, 2014

and as I said to her yesterday, it almost feels like the characters are writing this story for me. I keep looking at my word count and thinking when did I write all those words? I love that feeling. It used to be that way for me all the time, when I was just doing it for fun. And I still have those other characters in my head who really want me to get to their story. I’ve written over 3k in back story for them so far this week. Even though I already knew some of it, writing it all out from their POV tells me even more about them.

For today’s WiPPet, I went a little farther back in the WiP to the first time James and Teresa have lunch. They knew each other years before but were never actually in a relationship(since he was actually married to her best friend). Here’s 23 lines from that scene.

She nodded, but she didn’t say anything else. She didn’t want to talk about Sam right now. “So, how’s your family? Zach and Angela? Kayla.” She shook her head. “I still can’t believe she’s grown up on me.”
He smiled. “Zach’s struggling with being retired and Angela-”
“Retired? I didn’t think he’d ever retire. I figured you’d have to bury him first.” She felt the blood drain from her face as soon as the words were out. “I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “No, you’re right. I figured it too. There were quite a few times when it was a close thing. One of them was my fault.”
“No. I don’t believe that. You always had his back.”
He shook his head. “Not after Sarah and Kieran were gone. When I went back, I just didn’t care. I could have died, and it wouldn’t have mattered. I was as reckless as he was, and it nearly got him killed. Maybe that’s why I was so hard on Kayla when she was being so reckless last year. I know what that kind of behavior can bring.”
“Like father, like daughter, huh?”
His mouth twitched at that. “Yeah, very much.We almost lost her earlier this year. Thank God for Adrian.”
“That’s her…fiancè?”
He shook his head. “Boyfriend. He would have proposed almost six months ago if he didn’t think it would send her running.”
She wanted to know more, but her lunch break was nearly over, so she needed to get back. She started to dig her wallet out of her purse, but James waved her off. “I invited you out. It’s my treat.”
“James…”
“Teresa,” he said with a grin.
She rolled her eyes but dropped her wallet back in her purse. “Stubborn man,” she muttered, but she was smiling.
He stood with her after he had paid and left a tip. “I’ll walk with you.”
“That’s really not necessary, James. The library’s only a couple blocks away.”
“And my office is just a couple blocks over from that. It’s fine. I want to.”
She didn’t bother arguing anymore. She was beginning to realize he was more stubborn than she’d ever thought. How had Sarah put up with it? Then, she saw him smiling at her and knew. He just melted her. It was a fine weapon to have at his disposal.

• Flames of Renewal – Get to 56000 words – I’m at just over 49k right now. So, I’m on track.
• Flames of Redemption – I’d like to say to do all edits on this. But, that might be pushing things. So, I think I want to get through Ch 16 at least(which would be halfway). – I’m through the first 10 chapters.
• Flames of Retribution – Character Work – I have 2 of the character back stories done. 1 more to go
• Rick & Leann – 500 words – I’ve already met this goal this week. The other day the words were just flowing out for it, and I didn’t want to stop.
• Read: Chasing Shadow(Tia Bach) & Because of You(Jessica Scott) – I haven’t spent quite as much time on reading this week. I’m at about 78% through Chasing Shadows.
• Crochet: Round Basket – I have one of these done. There are three different sizes and I was going to make one of each.

Also: just about ready to email my CP about her MS. And I have 4 hand written pages for the prequel to The Choice.

We’re leaving to go camping with my dad and stepmom before lunch on Friday and will be home sometime Sunday afternoon probably. I’m going to try to get everything done before we leave on Friday. We’ll see if that happens or not though. I’m not even sure what the internet situation will be. There’s usually free wi-fi, but last year it wasn’t working. I may not even take my computer. I am pretty sure I’ll be taking my notebooks though.

Sunday Summary: Holy Productive

I’ve spent most of this week working on the next day’s goals. Because I’d gotten ahead on that day’s. In fact, I’m typing this up Friday afternoon because I’ve finished pretty much everything else for the week. Also, I won’t have much time over the weekend. Between working at the track Saturday afternoon/evening(this was cancelled due to all the rain we got yesterday)and family reunion Sunday, won’t be home too much. So, I am glad I got everything done during the week.

• Flames of Renewal – get WiP to 41500 words – done. I actually wrote over 5k on Wednesday. It almost felt like the words were spilling out faster than I could catch them. Friday they felt like more of a trickle.
• Flames of Redemption – Go through CP’s comments & make notes – done. I hope to start revisions on Monday.
• Stained Blood – finish plotting – done. I don’t know when I’ll get to writing this one. Barrett is charming, but rather laidback. So, he’s not talking as loud as certain other characters. 😉
• Flames of Retribution – brainstorm – I put down some plot and character ideas on paper. Will start doing more character work next week.
• Rick & Leann – 500 words – 455 words, but it’s now just over 7800 words. I, uh, don’t know how much longer it will be. Actually thought I’d keep this one under 7500 words.
• Read: Flat-Out Love(Jessica Park) & Empath(Becca Campbell) – Really enjoyed Flat-Out love. Finished Empath Friday afternoon. Really liked it
• Knit: Basic Newborn Hat – done. I didn’t have quite enough of the yarn I was using to finish it, but found another one I had that was a close color scheme to do the top of the hat.

I have a planned camping trip with my dad and stepmom next weekend, so this will be another week of hopefully getting things done early. Also thinking about started the prequel to The Choice in a notebook instead of taking computer with me. This may be more of something I work on between other projects.

• Flames of Renewal – Get to 56000 words
• Flames of Redemption – I’d like to say to do all edits on this. But, that might be pushing things. So, I think I want to get through Ch 16 at least(which would be halfway).
• Flames of Retribution – Character Work
• Rick & Leann – 500 words
• Read: Chasing Shadow(Tia Bach) & Because of You(Jessica Scott)
• Crochet: Round Basket

Also: Getting CP’s MS back to her with comments(and try not to be too flaily) & start that prequel.

 

Fiction Friday:

Coming on to the end of this. There will only be three more scenes after this. Probably another two weeks. If you need to get caught up, you can go over here to read the rest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the first bullet shattered the window, Garren lunged forward. He wrapped an arm around Jonah’s body and felt it jerk against him. As soon as the man’s body hit the ground, he pulled his gun from the holster. But there were no more shots.
His breath was heaving out of him, his heart racing from the rush of adrenaline. It took him a moment to realize something was soaking into his shirt and his pants. He glanced down, saw the spreading stain of red. And stopped breathing for a second. There was no pain though. He ran a hand over his chest then down his side. Nothing. Not his blood.
That brought his gaze downward. Jonah stared up at him. But, he wasn’t blinking, and his eyes were vacant. Curses ran through Garren’s head, and his hand shook as he knelt down next to the body. He didn’t know why he bothered to check for a pulse. He knew he wouldn’t find one.
He heard a scream then steps running down the stairs. More screaming. His ears were still ringing from the gunshots, so it took a moment to realize it was Mary screaming her husband’s name. Garren stepped away from the body and held her back. He needed to make sure the house was secure, the threat gone. And he needed to check in with the marshal on duty. See how the hell that man even got that close.
He pulled on her arm. “Go upstairs. Stay with Michelle until I tell you it’s safe.”
“Jonah.” She choked on his name. Is he-? He can’t be-” She kept trailing off and shaking her head.
“Go upstairs,” he said, not willing to answer her question.
But before she could do that, the door crashed open. Garren heard the curses in his head but didn’t know if they passed his lips. He raised his gun again as a man stepped through. “Stop where you are,” he said, taking a step forward and reaching behind him for his handcuffs. “You’re under arrest.”
The man didn’t even seem to hear him. He kept coming, and Garren dropped the hand from his cuffs, leaving them on his belt. He tightened his grip on the gun. “I said stop.”
But, the man was already tightening his finger on the trigger of his gun. Garren released a breath and squeezed off a shot. It took the man in the chest just a moment before two shots came from the man’s gun. Mary dropped to the ground with hardly a sound, blood spreading over the front of her dress. Garren choked on a breath, but he moved over to the gunman first. There was still a flutter of a pulse. Not dead. Not yet. That wouldn’t last long if he didn’t get an ambulance here soon though.
Where the hell was the marshal?
He moved over to Mary. He needed to see if she was still alive, then he would call that ambulance. He knew before he’d even put his fingers to the side of her neck though. There was nothing. No breath, no pulse. No heartbeat. He hung his head and swore.
“You killed them!”
He hadn’t even heard Michelle’s steps on the stairs. But, there she stood staring down at him, hate darkening her eyes. “Michelle, I didn’t-”
“You did,” she screamed again. “You did this. It’s all your fault. You hated them. It’s your fault.”
Even from there, he could see the tears streaming down her face. He wanted to brush away the words she said in grief, but some of them hit home. It was his fault. He should have done a better job of protecting them. “Calm down, Michelle,” he said, moving over to her. “I have to call for an ambulance and report this to my superiors.”
“Why? They’re dead. They don’t need an ambulance.”
“He’s not,” he said, looking over to the gunman.
“Then, let him die. He killed them.”
“I can’t do that,” he said, reaching for his phone. “It’s not for me, or you, to play judge and jury. He’ll pay for this if he lives though.”
“I hope he doesn’t.” She spat the words out.
Garren wasn’t even sure what to say to that. So, he called in the ambulance then moved into the kitchen. He stood in the doorway where he could keep an eye on Michelle and still be afforded some privacy. “Marshal Berenak,” he said when the other man answered. “It’s Officer Alexander. We have a problem here.”

Writing Wednesday: Demanding characters

Another good start to the week. Have written almost 10k between 3 different projects. Halfway through the summer and I seem to finally be falling into my routine. I guess it’s about time. 😉 Saturday night, I was working at the track. I take ticket stubs at the gate to the pits. There’s a period of about 3 hours or so in the middle of my shift where people are steadily coming through. Other than that, it tends to be slow. So, this is the time I spend pacing and thinking plotty thoughts. I sent some of these to my CP when I was done with work(and getting to sit in a tow truck in the middle of the track. interesting experience). Two different stories, neither of which I was planning on working on next. But, since Mark just won’t stop yelling at me, it looks like his story will be written next. I do have to finish the one I’m working on first though, since these are in the same series. Doren is a bit of a softer-speaker even though he’s constantly hanging around. So, his story can at least wait until Mark’s is finished.

I never thought fictional characters could be so demanding. 🙂

For today, I have 26(16-7+2+14+1 bonus line) paragraphs-mostly dialogue. Since Mark has been on my mind lately, here’s a scene where he shows up. If you have been following my WiPPets for any length of time, you may remember Mark from this one. I know most people didn’t like him back then.

He stopped near the tree. “Mark. You’re not on shift today?”
The man turned his head away from the group. “Nope. Tomorrow.” He had sunglasses pulled down over his eyes, so James couldn’t see them. But, there was a tightness to his jaw. “Sorry about what happened here, Brooke. Some of the other guys plan to show up too if you need the help.”
He was nearly overwhelmed by emotion. He should have known he didn’t only have to count on his own family. There was the fire family too. He’d always be a part of it even though he wasn’t actively fighting fires now. “Thanks, Mark. I appreciate it.”
“Whoever did this is the lowliest sort of scum. Desecrating graves. It’s despicable. I’d like to-”
“Might want to watch what threats you make, Young,” a voice said from behind them. “There’s lots of cops present here.”
James turned and saw Adrian walking toward them, an arm around Kayla’s waist. “Your whole family show up to help, Adrian?” He asked.
Kayla snorted. “This? I don’t think that’s even half of them.”
“And you didn’t even meet Mom’s side yet.”
“There’s more?” She groaned.
He laughed and bent down to kiss her. “Don’t worry. It’s smaller.”
“That’s not saying much. You have thirteen freaking cousins.”
He chuckled. “You’re still stuck on that?”
“I don’t have any. Except,” she added, glancing over at James.
“It’s okay,” he said. “You didn’t know him.”
Mark stepped forward and stuck his hand out. “Riley.”
“Young,” Adrian responded in the same tone. But, he took his hand.
Mark turned to Kayla, and surprisingly, James saw his jaw loosen. “Brooke.”
And she smiled at him. “Hey, Mark.”
“Uh, the guys at the station miss you. You haven’t stopped by for a while.”
She grinned. “Only the other guys, huh?”
He scratched at the back of his neck. “What would I miss about you? We got a new rookie anyway. I can rag on her.”
Her eyes went wide, but James was sure it was feigned. “They brought someone in to replace me?”
“Never gonna happen.”
She grinned. “I think that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me, Mark.”
James noticed the firefighter’s face flush slightly then he pulled his sunglasses off and winked at her. “I’d say sweeter, but your man might punch me. Or arrest me.”
“I wouldn’t bother,” Adrian said. “I’d just let her kick your ass.”

I also rewrote this scene from Mark’s and another character’s(who’s not in this part but does bounce in a few paragraphs later) POVs. I’m considering it backstory work for the next story. 🙂 You can add your WiPPet or go read the others here.

And for my goals for this week so far:

• Flames of Renewal – get WiP to 41500 words – up to just over 34000 right now. Which is right on track for my daily goals.
• Flames of Redemption – Go through CP’s comments & make notes – I’m through Ch 20 in transcribing notes into scrivener. Hoping to have this done by Friday and actually start edits next week.
• Stained Blood – finish plotting finished this morning actually. I only have the main points outlined, since I figure I usually fill things in as I go even when I do a more thorough outline.
• Flames of Retribution – brainstorming – other than the bit I wrote yesterday, haven’t started this yet. I’ll probably start today or tomorrow.
• Rick & Leann – 500 words – 302 words so far. Right on track.
• Read: Flat-Out Love(Jessica Park) & Empath(Becca Campbell) – finished Flat-Out Love on Monday. Really enjoyed it. Haven’t started Empath yet.
• Knit: Basic Newborn Hat – I’m almost finished with this. Just have to do the decreases for the top of the hat.

Here’s hoping everyone’s week is going good as well. I’ll be working at the track again this weekend, which will probably mean more in-my-head brainstorming.

Sunday Summary: Out of the Gate

I’ve definitely gotten a good start out of the gate with this round. Of course, I didn’t really take much of a break between rounds either. Just kept going. It’s the way I usually do things. Even on weekends, I have trouble taking breaks. Although during the summer, those weekends tend to be busy, so I don’t always have much choice. In fact, I’m writing this up on Saturday because I’ve finished pretty much all my goals for the week. Tonight I’m working at the racetrack, which means people watching & character profiling. I don’t think we have much planned for tomorrow, so it will probably be a reading day or getting ahead on next week’s goals. The next two weekends will be busier though(another day at the track & family reunion the one & camping the next).

Camp NaNoWriMo is going good. As of right now, I’m predicted to meet m goal by 7/26. So definitely ahead on that. And I finished a quick read of the end of my CP’s MS. I’ll do another read through to make notes on it, but I was excited to read the end and wanted to enjoy it for the first read through(and I did!).

• Flames of Renewal – 15,000 words – I’ve technically only written 14730 words on this for this month. But, my goal in the 15k was to get the WiP up to 26500 words. And I did that. So, this goal was kind of met. That’s how I figure my daily goal – the total words overall. So, I may change this goal to match that.
• The Choice – Polish & send to CP  – done. Now I flip between excitement and anxiety until she gets it back to me. And start revising Flames of Redemption.
• Stained Blood – Character work – done. Learned some interesting things about my characters(which is why I love to write out their back stories. They always tell me things I hadn’t known).
• Rick & Leann – 500 words – 548 words done. I think I’m getting close to the end on this one. Probably a few more scenes. Then, I think I might work on a few bonus scenes I have in my head from things that have happened in Flames of Renewal, but don’t really fit into the story(mostly with side characters).
• Read: The Star Thief(Jamie Grey) &  Tall, Dark, and Dangerous(Suzanne Brockmann) – finished The Star Thief and really enjoyed it. Yesterday I read the first story in Tall, Dark, and Dangerous – “Prince Joe” I really enjoyed. I worried since the two stories in this book were written back in the 90s. But, it was good. I did laugh a little when she was listening to a cassette tape, since that’s a bit outdated now. But, it was still good.
• Crochet: Flower Power Dishcloth – Finished this on Wednesday. It turned out nice and was quite easy to make. May do more of these sometimes(also a good way to use up some of my cotton stash. Since I have some balls that aren’t enough to make other projects).

It has been a really good week. Hoping the next is good too.

Edited: Realized I didn’t put my goals for the next week in here.

• Flames of Renewal – get WiP to 41500 words
• Flames of Redemption – Go through CP’s comments & make notes
• Stained Blood – finish plotting
• Flames of Retribution – did some “in-my-head” brainstorming while working at the track. need to get this on paper and figure more things out though.
• Rick & Leann – 500 words
• Read: Flat-Out Love(Jessica Park) & Empath(Becca Campbell)
• Knit: Basic Newborn Hat

Fiction Friday

Time for another installment of Garren’s story. Things are starting to go bad now. If you want to catch up, all the previous scenes are here. If you’re already caught up, enjoy! There’s only 4 more scenes left after this.

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Garren attempted to push down his irritation before he even stepped out of the car. He hadn’t even gotten eight hours of sleep. What he had gotten had been broken. This was going to be a long night. Maybe tomorrow he would just sleep all day.
Finally he stepped out of the car. He didn’t have any more time anyway. When he reached the house, he was surprised to see Marshal Berenak standing just inside the door. “I didn’t expect you to be here.”
“I figured it was the least I could do with having to pull you in like this.” He seemed to study Garren for a moment. “You get any sleep at all?”
“Some.”
The marshal nodded. “Well, I’ll be getting out of here.” He started away then paused. “Oh, your detective was by earlier.”
“Mic-” He stopped himself. “Detective McRoy.”
There was a slight smirk on the man’s face. He’d caught the slip. “You two know each other away from the job?”
Garren wiped his hands on his pants. He always hated when this came up. Like it had any bearing on anything. “Him and my father are friends. I’ve known him since I was a boy.”
“That explains his concern for you.” He didn’t notice any judgment in the man’s face, like he thought it got him any sort of special treatment on a case. Obviously it didn’t if he was here. Michael’s concerns had just been brushed aside. “Anyway, he was here and seems to be getting closer to closing this.”
“Good.” Then, he could get back to his real job.
The marshal nodded. “Like I said, I’ll be going now.”
Garren waited until he’d left before turning around. Jonah and Michelle stood in the doorway to the kitchen. Both seemed to be sneering at him. “I don’t like you,” the little girl said.
I don’t care much for you either. The words were right there on the tip of his tongue, but he bit them back. Instead he ignored her and moved to the windows, checking to make sure they were secure. He did the same with all the windows, making sure the shades were pulled, throughout the first floor, as well as checking the locks on the doors. He’d been told on the first day that the second floor was off limits. There wasn’t anyway for someone to get in there anyway.
When he returned to the living room, he saw Jonah standing in front of that damn picture window again. He cold feel the growl building in his throat. He started to think the man did it just to annoy him. He started forward but stopped when Mary stepped into the room with Michelle.
“Tell your father good night, Michelle. It’s time for bed.”
“I don’t wanna go to bed though,” the girl whined.
Garren couldn’t keep his lips from twitching. As much as she had been a pain in his ass since this detail started, she was just a little girl. Not too much different than his sister a few years ago. A lot more spoiled, but overall not that different. And he couldn’t blame her for the way her father acted. Or even for the fact that she seemed to share his opinion. At that age, he would have been the same way.
“I know you don’t want to, but we have a big day tomorrow.” The girl made a face as her mother added, “School shopping.” Then, the woman laughed. “Come on, Michelle. You know you love it. And we’ll go out for lunch. Wherever you want. But, right now, it’s time for bed.”
He’d have to check and make sure they’d been cleared for the shopping trip. There wasn’t much point in him being here if they were always going off somewhere. Michelle dragged her feet, but moved over to her father and waited for him to bend down. He only stooped long enough for a brush of lips over his cheek before standing and turning back to the window. No embrace, no wish for a good night. That had never been the routine in his home.
Garren shuddered at the coldness of it.
Then, Mary led Michelle out of the room and toward the stairs. Garren turned back toward Jonah, saw the man was staring out the window again. He took a few steps forward. He had long legs, and it didn’t take many strides to cross the room. “Get away from the damn window,” he said, reaching again for the shades.
Jonah reached out and pushed him away. “Don’t tell me what to do in my own house, boy.”
“I’m only here because you asked for protection. You’re making it damn hard to do that.” As his anger rose, he forgot his usual reluctance for swearing.
“And don’t swear at me in my house. I don’t have to stand for that. If you were more of a cop, you’d-”
Garren wasn’t listening to him anymore. Something wasn’t right. He didn’t know what it was, but there was a tingling at the back of his neck. It had the hairs there standing on end. “Get away from the window,” he growled.
Jonah cursed as he turned on Garren. “Don’t you dare-”
He couldn’t even finish the threat as the world exploded.

Writing Wednesday: Who Needs Sleep?

It’s been an interesting week. Monday my CP sent me her latest MS. I have been eagerly awaiting it, since she mentioned she was working on Sam’s story. I got through Monday’s tasks pretty quickly, getting to read this might have been incentive for that. I planned on only reading a little each day, to keep me from getting sucked in so I could still give objective comments on it. Yeah, I should know better. Considering some of the comments I did add in were along the lines of: “I love this” and “awwww” and “I may need a fan”. 😉 Then, I went to bed, telling myself I’d read a little more in the morning. Instead I synced it to my kindle app(I find reading on the kindle easier than on the computer), and read it instead of falling asleep. She sent it to me without the ending, because she was rewriting it again(and did get that to me yesterday), but I finished the rest at 1 in the morning. Yeah, so much for going slow. And I was still awake before 4 that morning. I’m actually surprised I didn’t fall asleep before the kids. This morning I was wide awake at 3 a.m. No clue why, except maybe because my husband was getting up at the same time. Or at least his alarm was going off.

So, yeah, I’ve gotten about 9 hours of sleep in the last 2 days. And actually don’t feel too bad for it. I will be going back through what I read on my phone to actually put some comments in. Maybe doing a quick read through first then going back through would be a good thing anyway.  I certainly won’t complain about spending more time with a dirty talking former special forces man & sassy woman who can handle herself. 😉

So, onto other things for today. First, WiPPet. Last week, I was sharing Stained by Ashes. But, I finished that first draft on Thursday. Setting it aside for a time before working on revisions. For the rest of July(and probably at least a good portion of August), I’ll be working on Flames of Renewal. This is the follow-up to Flames of Redemption, which I got back from my CP last week. I’ll be starting revisions on that soon. For right now, I’m enjoying telling James’ story. Although it feels a little weird because this is the oldest couple I’ve ever written. Most of mine are between 25-35. James & Teresa are in their early 50s. They’ve both had their share of tragedy and certainly deserve this HEA.

For today, I will be sharing 32 sentences paragraphs of mostly dialogue(7+9+2+14) from one of the earlier scenes. James is visiting his brother.

Zachary looked up from the book in his hands. “I didn’t know you were coming over, James.”
“I didn’t either. Just thought I’d stop by.” He glanced around the room, noted the scattered projects. A model airplane, half a train track. A birdhouse? He barely contained a chuckle. “Still looking for that hobby, Zach?”
“Angela thinks I need to find something I can do outside the house. Damn it, James, I never thought retirement would be so difficult.”
“It would be for you.”
“Speaking of, how are you doing?”
“What are you talking about? I’m not retired.”
It was Zachary’s turn to laugh. “Don’t I know it. You’ll probably never retire. Kayla’s just like you. Are you sure she’s my daughter?”
The corners of his lips turned up. “Trust me. She’s yours. She’s a damn carbon copy.” He saw the shadows pass through his brother’s eyes and almost wished he hadn’t said it. Being just like him is what had gotten her almost killed this past winter. She had inherited her father’s impulsiveness, and it tended to get her in trouble. “Zach, I’m sorry.”
He waved that away. “It’s not your fault. You’ve dragged both of us out of enough disasters.”
“I’ve never regretted a moment of it.”

Now, for the first ROW80 check-in of this round:

• Flames of Renewal – 15,000 words – 6544 words so far. Pretty much right on target.
• The Choice – Polish & send to CP – about half way through this. On target.
• Stained Blood – Character work – have 2 back stories finished. 1 more to write and some character worksheets to fill out.
• Rick & Leann – 500 words – 212 words. almost halfway.
• Read: The Star Thief(Jamie Grey) &  Tall, Dark, and Dangerous(Suzanne Brockmann) – Only about 25% through The Star Thief.
• Crochet: Flower Power Dishcloth – Almost finished with this.

It’s been a good start to this round. How is everyone else doing?