So, I’ve been working on my new schedule this week. It’s been going well, although I’m still struggling a little with the focus thing. Like working on this blog post during one of my writing blocks of time. Oh, well. I suppose it will take some time to settle into it. The girl had a 2 hour delay on Monday, so there was no transportation for the boy’s preschool. I worked around that, though. Then, yesterday morning, I checked the news site, and it still had the preschool listed as having no transportation. Well, the bus went by at its usual time. So, apparently it hadn’t been updated. Thankfully my husband was home and was able to run him in. I figured the roads were just icy. I know our driveway was. I fell while I was waiting for the boy to get home. Wouldn’t have been too bad if I hadn’t tried to catch myself. Still, not too terribly bad, although it did hurt my wrist and jar my shoulder a little.
I did finally get that email from my CP I’ve been waiting for. So, I started compiling notes and nearly got through 2 chapters of edits yesterday. Still working on this bonus set of scenes set in Flames of Retribution. Also, it sets up Nolan’s story a bit. I’ve added 2598 words to it so far this week.
Before I get to the rest of my progress, my WiPPet Snippet. This will probably be one of the last from Scars and All. It may see out the month, but that will probably be it. Today I have 13 paragraphs. Doren and his father finally have that talk.
“You were still in surgery when we got there. They said they were doing everything they could to save your leg, but it didn’t look good. It didn’t look good, Doren, and I was losing my mind. When they finally let us see you, I-” he broke off and turned away, rubbing his hands over his face. “Damn it, Doren, I couldn’t take it. To see you so broken there. You’d just been home. You’d just had Amy home with you, and the two of you had been so happy. And now you lay there broken. I didn’t know if you’d get back up again. I didn’t know how to deal with it.”
“Dad,-”
His father shook his head though, and Doren closed his mouth again. His father seemed more agitated with each word, but he’d let him get this out. “When I came back out of your room, Amy’s parents were there. So were the cops. And…God, Doren, I was a mess. They started shouting at me. I didn’t even realize she was-” He stopped and swallowed- “Damn it. I didn’t know yet. And they were yelling that it was your fault. I shouted back, I don’t even remember everything. Somewhere in there the cops mentioned another vehicle being involved. The only thing I cared about was if you were going to make it. Once everyone calmed down and I found out she had died, I felt terrible. But, I couldn’t feel guilty that you were still alive.”
His chest still ached, but Doren forced a breath out. “Her father came to my room after I woke up. He said he didn’t care what the cops said. That he knew it was my fault, and she never should have been with someone like me.”
His father dropped his hands to his sides. “That…” H broke off whatever he was going to say and turned back to face Doren. “I know you don’t believe it, but I sat by your side every damn day. I was afraid if I didn’t, you wouldn’t hang on. I gave up a week of work, but that was worth making sure you stayed with us.”
Doren’s eyes burned, and he wished he could claim it was just the wind. “Then, why did you turn your back on me after I woke up? Did you think I didn’t need you anymore?”
His father seemed to have trouble meeting his gaze. “I was an idiot, and I know I handled it wrong. You were in so much pain. They had you on some heavy-duty drugs at first. But, you still woke up crying out for Amy. Nothing could touch that pain, and I didn’t know how to make it better.”
“So, you just walked away?”
“Damn it, Doren,” he cried, shoving his hands through his hair. “I told you I was an idiot. I couldn’t stand to see you hurting and know there was nothing I could do. So, I went back to work. I tried going along like nothing was wrong. And I screwed everything up. What I said yesterday,-”
“Was about how you reacted then,” Doren said just realizing it himself. “I thought you meant you were ashamed of me. Because I always let everyone down.”
“Never, Doren. Why would I be ashamed of you? You’ve taken something terrible and moved on from it. If I lost your mother,-” He shook his head. “I wouldn’t be able to deal with it. And you lost more than just Amy, but everything you were working for. I’m sorry I didn’t make it easier for you. And when the rumors started,-”
“You believed them.”
His father just stared at him, his eyes wide, and the color draining from his face. “No. Never. God, Doren, I knew how much you loved her. I knew you would never do anything to hurt her. And they gave us everything they found on you. They gave us the ring, Doren. I know you planned to propose to her. That night?”
Maybe now that they’ve had everything out, they can move forward 🙂
- Buried Secrets – finish outline – set this aside until I finish the edits for The Choice. I did have one backstory finished and just started another.
- Read:
Dark Paradise(Angie Sandro), Scarlet(Marissa Meyer), Tell Me Something Good(Jamie Wesley), This Weakness for You(Wendy Sparrow), & Outsider(Becca J. Campbell) – I finished Dark Paradise and Tell Me Something Good. Going to start Scarlet today. I was in the mood for something lighthearted when I finished Dark Paradise, though. I did enjoy both.
Read: A Lawyer’s Primer for Writers – finished reading this yesterday. some interesting stuff & definitely a resource I’ll keep around, since I have a few lawyers in stories.
Knit: Cap with Beaded Flowers – finished this Monday…kind of. I didn’t make the beaded flowers for it(I don’t have any beads to make them), but the hat itself is done.

- Crochet: Broomstick Lace Hat – I have this started. Had some trouble figuring out the broomstick method, but I’ve finally got it, I think.
For the rest of the week, most of my focus is going to be on edits for The Choice. I’m hoping to get them done and have it ready for beta readers before the end of the month.