Trinkets (etc) – sneak peek – excerpt #1

Update: Jen won this week’s giveaway! YAY, Jen! Please check the giveaway page for more chances to win.

The following is a (approx.) 450 word excerpt from my upcoming release, Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic. This is not the final proof. Release date: December 27, 2013

WARNING: this MAY contain spoilers for the Dowser #1.

Comment on this post to win a prerelease ebook (eARC). An excerpt and chance to win will be posted every Friday in December leading up to the release date. A new winner will be selected by random number generator after 12noon PST every Friday throughout December.

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Fully aware that the vampire was watching me from somewhere deeper in the woods, I placed my second to last piece of single-origin Madagascar chocolate on my tongue and lovingly sucked on it. The smooth, creamy, dark-roasted cocoa teased my taste buds and I instantly relaxed.

I wasn’t going to freak out about being stranded in the Squamish forest. I wasn’t going to freak out about being damp from my blond curls to my perfectly painted pink toenails. And I really, really wasn’t going to freak out about running out of chocolate in the middle of bloody nowhere while being harassed by a vampire and stalked by a werewolf.

Okay. I was exaggerating, but only a little. My toes, crammed into clunky, very practical — but ultimately ugly — hiking boots were bone dry.

Everything else was the utter truth, from my perspective at least. Except the werewolf would say ‘training,’ not stalking. And the vampire would — if he bothered to explain at all — call harassment ‘education.’

The last of the chocolate melted in my mouth with no hint of bitter aftertaste, and I opened my indigo eyes, ready to move forward. I was good at moving forward — baby steps, at least — because if I really paused to think or take mental stock, I was afraid I wouldn’t ever get going again.

I was sitting on a fallen, moss-covered tree — a cedar, maybe — surrounded by more trees. Though these ones were still upright and thick enough that I wouldn’t be able to wrap my arms around them. You know, if I felt like hugging trees. I was currently somewhere in a valley that cut between multiple mountains and led eventually, I thought, to Whistler ski resort. I could see three snow-covered peaks without turning my head. Whistler, known for its world-class skiing and fantastic restaurants, would be a great location for a second Cake in a Cup bakery. That is, if I ever got out of this forest and felt like working for more than twelve hours a day, six days a week. I was close enough to a river — the Squamish River, I hoped — that I could hear but not see it. No trails cut through the underbrush. The sun, which had just made an appearance, glinted off water droplets caught on fern leaves. My phone declared the time to be 2:23 p.m., but I had no signal.

So, yeah. I was lost.

The vampire wasn’t in a helpful mood, which was usually fine by me, because whenever he was helpful, it creeped me out. Helpful usually meant he was satiated. And what satiated vampires? Blood. Not mine, so far at least. Not that he wouldn’t fang me in a split second, even if he was all detached with his cool peppermint magic and carved-ice features. A girl just knows — with guys or vampires, though other girls, not so much.

Anyway, lost.

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Favourite lines from last week

As of Friday I’m six chapters into the 2nd draft of Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic – aka Dowser #2 – which means the novel is approximately a third done. I wanted to treat you to a bit of Jade by sharing my favourite bits so far. Warning, while these might be deemed as gems by myself, they have not been vetted by the editor, or betas, or proofed at all.

Chapter One:

“I’d known him for three months now and it still freaked me out when he looked at me too closely. Usually I pretended he was wearing some human expression when he did this stare, no talk thing. This time I imagined him frowning — I doodled it in my mind with a black marker over his —”

Chapter Two:

“Great, now with the running. The running always led places I really didn’t want to go. Like into blood and mayhem. Well, I guess I had just walked into the last batch of those …”

“Then I got hit by a bear.”

Chapter Three:

“Still, no trace of Kandy or Kett. No other magical glimmers, either. I was utterly useless. And utterly lost. Thank God my chocolate bar hadn’t completely washed away. Yes, I checked. I’m aware that reflects badly on me.”

“Desmond was absolutely gorgeous and dangerous in cat form. But, as a man, he was hard – almost overly muscled – and exceedingly difficult.

And completely naked.

Okay, Jesus. Of course, he was naked.

And now I was staring.”

Chapter Four:

“I put the SUV in park and loosened my seat belt thinking Desmond would want to drive, but after scowling at me for a beat, he simply crossed around to the door behind me. I checked out his backside in my side view mirror. What? I hadn’t seen him naked from behind.”

Chapter Five:

“I was haunted from within — from everything my sister did, and everything I didn’t stop her from doing.”

“You have remained silent for three minutes, Dowser,” Kett said. “I believe that may be a record of some sort.” Great, the vampire was attempting a joke. I was fairly certain that was one of the signs of the apocalypse.

“I was so going to run out of chocolate before Britannia Beach. No wonder Kandy stayed in wolf form. This way she had a major excuse for not participating in what masqueraded as a conversation, but was really just a sausage swing and measure.”

Chapter Six:

“A necromancer was sitting on my front stoop. Okay, I didn’t have a front stoop. A necromancer was sitting on the front steps of my apartment. A fledgling necromancer to be more exact.”

“Mort sided up to me, placing me between her and Kandy. The werewolf noticed and offered another spine-tingling grin. “Don’t let the blondness fool you, fledgling. The witch stabbed a 900-pound grizzly in the ass today. She just keeps her claws better hidden and painted pink.”

“My cat Lester loved marshmallows, even untoasted,” I said to Mort as I reached out to the magic surrounding the door, walls, and windows of my home. “If you accidentally left the bag out he’d totally molest it.”

“What?”

“Your magic tastes like toasted marshmallows.”

“And, so? Your cat is going to molest me?”

The accidentally snipped chocolate cosmos I’ve been sniffing all morning. Yes, it actually smells like chocolate!!

P.S. You can still win a Cupcakes (Etc) signed paperback through Goodreads this week. 800 people have signed up so far.

Cupcakes (etc) – sneak peek – excerpt #4

Update: The random number generator picked Johnnie-Marie to win this final giveaway – congrats! and I hope you enjoy the read!!

The following is a (approx.) 450 word excerpt from my new release, Cupcakes, Trinkets & Other Deadly Magic. Want to read more? Comment on this post to win an ebook with your email address (e.g. name AT gmail DOT com).

Excerpt #1

Excerpt #2

Excerpt #3

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I let my eyes drift over him like he wasn’t the absolute focus of my attention as I crossed around the baking display case. I murmured greetings to some of my regulars, and, as unhurried as possible, wandered over to the bistro table where my foster sister Sienna sat sipping a latte and nibbling on a mocha butter white cake Thrill in a Cup. I hated it when she paired similar flavors like that, but my sister did what my sister wanted. We both did. We were as similar in that attitude as we were dissimilar in looks.

I cleared my throat as I came around from behind to the front of the table. Sienna didn’t lift her dark eyes from the book of spells she was reading on her Kindle. I was momentarily distracted that such an ebook existed, and wondered where it could be purchased. Sienna seemed to be reading up on binding spells, which made sense given that was her specialty.

A breeze from the door — the unusual heat the day had provided was fading as the sun set — stirred a few of my trinkets and recalled my attention to the vampire.

“Sienna,” I hissed.

“What?” My sister glanced at me over the rim of her coffee. She’d skimmed off all the foam and was left with the creamy espresso underneath; her bored eyes almost matched the color of the liquid. “The coffee beans are burned.”

“The coffee is not burned.”

“Is too.”

“Sienna, there’s a vampire at the door.”

“What?” Sienna laughed and looked over my shoulder toward the door. “Where?”

“Right there! Tall, blond, and fangy.”

“You can’t actually see their fangs, you know. Ahead of time, I mean.”

“Sienna!”

“There is no vampire at the door, Jade.”

I looked over my shoulder. Indeed, the doorway was empty, and closed. The last customer to leave must have politely shut it behind them.

“Imagining things?” Sienna murmured, but her attention had returned to her book of spells. Spells that were above both our magic grades as far as I had seen with a glance. Which is why I rarely bothered to practice magic — it was mostly out of my reach. Sienna always liked to know, however, even if she couldn’t do.

“Right,” I murmured, tracking my eyes from the door along the French-paned windows. I’d had them especially built for the bakery when I opened last year. The mullions were painted white, as was the paneled wooden front door. I had been going for a French provincial look, but with the addition of the slat wood floor and the hodgepodge of trinkets hanging everywhere, I’d achieved more farmhouse than sleek old country.

The vampire was gone.

I was nowhere stupid enough to step out onto the sidewalk to look for him … okay, maybe just a quick peek. The sidewalk and street were empty of vampires, though. The sun was fully set, the last vestiges of reddish orange still tinting the sky to the west. It was suddenly chilly enough to see a puff of my breath. I folded my arms over my T-shirt-clad breasts, and a light breeze lifted my blond curls from my neck. At least it wasn’t raining.

I dropped my hands and smoothed them over my spotless apron. The sidewalk was teeming with after-work shoppers. Strollers competed with teacup pets, the dogs even pricier than the kids. But then, my customers could afford the price tags of both. I held the door open for one mother fresh from yoga and decided that I needed a class before dinner myself.

What the hell was a vampire doing in Vancouver? And why the hell had he wound up at my door?

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Comment below to win an ebook copy of Cupcakes, Trinkets & Other Deadly Magic!!

Cupcakes (etc) – sneak peek – excerpt #3

Update: A bunch of people knocked themselves off the list by buying Cupcakes (Etc) already, but that worked to Catherine’s benefit (somehow, perhaps) because the random number generator just picked her to win an ebook copy!! YAY!

The following is a (approx.) 450 word excerpt from my upcoming release, Cupcakes, Trinkets & Other Deadly Magic. Want to read more? Comment on this post to win a prerelease ebook (eARC) with your email address (e.g. name AT gmail DOT com). A new winner will be randomly selected every Wednesday throughout June. An excerpt and chance to win will be posted every Wednesday in June.

Excerpt #1

Excerpt #2

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I took the customer’s credit card and rang through the order. Customers could run their own cards, but I thought it was better service to do so myself. He was talking to me again. I pulled my gaze from the vampire, who was moving back to the front door, to acknowledge him.

“Sorry? My mind was elsewhere.”

“I said that I own the law firm up the street. We just renovated.”

Oh. Nice. He was the reason I’d been woken before eight in the morning for the entire week. I always attempted to nap after I baked in the mornings.

“Great,” I replied as I handed him his card. “I hope you enjoy the cupcakes.”

His smile faltered. Perhaps I, a lowly baker, was supposed to be more impressed with his lawyer status. Then I felt bad for being uncharitable … it was just that the vampire currently testing the wards on my front door was starting to freak me out.

“Oh. Okay then,” the lawyer guy said. “Till next time.” He grinned, and I took a brief moment to notice he was rather cute. It wasn’t like the vampire was currently slaughtering my customers. I could pause for a moment to exchange smiles with a cute, potentially rich guy — leases on West Fourth Avenue weren’t cheap — who had nice straight teeth and an adorable dimple.

“Till then,” I called after him.

The lawyer didn’t even notice the vampire as he exited the bakery. But then, he was looking back at me. I was accustomed to men — even some women — staring. This time, I was pleased it meant the lawyer didn’t inadvertently make eye contact with the alpha predator in the doorway. The vampire was all but blocking the entrance.

He caught my gaze. I flinched. I couldn’t help it. His magic coated his pale skin with an icy aura. He lifted his hand to press against the invisible ward guarding the door, which stood open despite it being early spring. It had been unseasonably warm all day, but the weather could be temperamental in Vancouver. The runes etched in the doorframe glowed in response to the vampire’s touch. Runes were how Gran anchored her magic, though not every witch used them. I wondered if the vampire could see such things, or if he simply felt the magic blocking him from entering uninvited. I felt the ward magic shiver in response, but the vampire wasn’t trying to break through. He was simply … tasting.

The idea scared the shit out of me.

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Comment below to win an exclusive prerelease copy of Cupcakes, Trinkets & Other Deadly Magic!! New winner every Wednesday in June!!

No typos yet …

… though that doesn’t mean I’m not adding/changing things, of course. And yes, that is my customized pink ruler. It was a gift many, many years ago, and it is just the perfect length to keep me focused line by line.

So focused I don’t even have time to take a picture and … err. Wait, that’s not right. Maybe the ruler should be named ‘procrastination thy name is writer-facing-final-proof-of-70,000-word-novel’. Except that wouldn’t all fit on a 6in/10cm ruler. Well, not in a readable font size anyway.

Back to work! I have a book to release after all!!

Cupcakes (etc) – sneak peek – excerpt #2

UPDATE: Cindi has won the Cupcakes (etc) eARC from last week – YAY!!

Excerpt #1

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“Sex in a Cup,” the customer across the display counter requested. His voice was laced with as much innuendo as he could muster.

I reached for and automatically boxed this ninth cupcake — more chocolate butter icing with a wallop of cinnamon and cocoa in the batter. I ignored the come-on — with a smile that indicated my delight over his exuberance for my cupcakes, but which thwarted his attempt to start something other than buying them. The customer looked familiar, like maybe he’d been in the bakery a few times before. The vampire, however, was new. What the hell was a full-blood vampire doing in Vancouver anyway?

The vampire wasn’t interested in the child, whose mother had lifted her back onto her stool and directed her attention to the remainder of her cupcake. No one else seemed to notice the striking bloodsucker at the window, but then again, most people couldn’t see magic as well as I could. That was my little bit of talent. Well, that and the trinkets I made from magical bits I happened upon, but they weren’t powerful or useful. Just pretty bits to hang in a window and chime in the breeze.

One Rapture in a Cup, a yellow/chocolate swirl cake with cream cheese chocolate icing; a Buzz in a Cup, a mocha fudge cake with mocha butter icing; and an Ecstasy in a Cup, a double chocolate cake with lemon butter icing, rounded out the customer’s order. He liked chocolate almost as much as I did. Or he had a thing for anything provocatively named.

I crossed to the till, weaving for a second time around Bryn and Todd, who were moving a hell of a lot faster than me to fulfill customer orders. But then, being human, they weren’t distracted by the vampire examining my trinkets through the window.

I didn’t know vampires were attracted by shiny things, or I wouldn’t have hung so many in the front window. I really should pay more attention to Gran’s lessons. Too bad my grandmother was currently surfing in Tofino — yes, at sixty. The vampire might not be so bold confronted by a full-blood witch. I was only half, through my mother. I also had my mother’s eyes, medium blue or indigo, depending on whether a part-time guitar-playing poet was immortalizing them or not. I didn’t know any guitar players. I also didn’t inherit the Godfrey petite stature, pert nose, or magical prowess.

My father was some Australian backpacker, who my mother left — at sixteen — before she even knew she was pregnant. So all I’d inherited from him was my golden locks and sun-kissed skin. It didn’t bother me much, not even knowing my father’s last name or whereabouts. But then, I had Gran, and Gran was better than any other family in the world.

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Comment below to win an exclusive prerelease copy of Cupcakes, Trinkets & Other Deadly Magic!! New winner every Wednesday in June!!

Cupcakes (etc) – sneak peek – excerpt #1

UPDATE: Tamika has won the Cupcakes (etc) eARC from last week – YAY!!

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The vampire stood at the door to my bakery.

My heart skipped a beat. The sun hadn’t even fully set — damn daylight saving time — and the vampire wasn’t even wearing sunglasses or a hat. He was old, then. Or maybe young? I never could remember whether their skin got more or less sensitive with age. But then, I’d never seen a vampire before, so there’d been no reason to remember my vampire lore lessons.

I was a magical dowser of sorts. I found and attracted magical things, so it wasn’t completely weird that a vampire wound up at my door — except the wards protecting my bakery should have safeguarded me from magical detection. If vampires were even capable of detecting magic on that level. Again I had no idea. I lowered my eyes to nestle a sixth cupcake into the box I was currently packing. Maybe if I ignored him, he’d go away. Because that always worked, right?

The bakery’s seating area was standing room only. The line of customers at the counter stretched almost to the door, as it always did in the hours after work and before dinner. Three of us always worked the counter for the final two hours of any week day. I moved along behind the display case parallel with my very human customer, dodged my employees Bryn and Todd, and added another cupcake to the box. Dark chocolate cake with strawberry butter icing — one of my favorites. I called it Love in a Cup. I made up cute names for all my cupcakes, and the occasional cookie I decided to bake. My bakery was aptly, though perhaps unimaginatively, named “Cake in a Cup”. I certainly never pretended to be a wordsmith or anything. Not all my customers were fully human, but even the magically lacking seemed to believe there was something extra special about my baking. A magical ingredient. There wasn’t.

I glanced up to check on the vampire. He was still on the sidewalk but had moved farther along the window to peer through the paned-glass. He seemed to be watching a little blond girl, who was maybe four and dressed in the prettiest pink ballerina outfit. The child had climbed off her stool and was straining her cake-crusted chubby fingers to reach for one of the trinkets hanging in the storefront window.

I placed an eighth cupcake in the box — a peanut butter-iced fudge cake I called Bliss in a Cup — without taking my attention off the vampire. He narrowed his ice-blue eyes at the child. With his short-cropped, almost-white hair, broad forehead, and lanky frame, all he needed was an uber chic ski jacket to look even more Scandinavian. He was probably sexy — in that angular, chiseled way — to anyone who didn’t know his love bites were deadly. I bristled, and reassuringly brushed my fingers over the invisible knife I wore underneath my apron. No one was going to be snacking on any children in my bakery.

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Comment below to win an exclusive prerelease copy of Cupcakes, Trinkets & Other Deadly Magic!! New winner every Wednesday in June!!

Love Lies Bleeding Free for kindle

Okay! For the very last time Love Lies Bleeding will be free for kindle from (today) May 30th to June 3rd. I will then make it available on all the other ebook platforms.

Bonus: LLB now contains an exclusive excerpt of the soon to be released, Cupcakes, Trinkets and Other Deadly Magic.

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009EBQFPU

Amazon.ca: http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B009EBQFPU

Amazon uk: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009EBQFPU

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B009EBQFPU

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B009EBQFPU

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B009EBQFPU

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B009EBQFPU

Tag: Love conquers all…even death

Synopsis: Pamela just wants to reunite in the afterlife with her dead fiancé, Grady. Problem is, Grady was a secret agent, and his coded emails have infuriated both his employers and his enemies. They need Pamela alive. So, instead of her planned suicide, she is kidnapped by black ops agents, tortured by mobster warlords, hunted by a psychotic killer, and chased by zombies … all necessary evils in order to ultimately walk into the sunset with her true love.

WARNING: Love Lies Bleeding is a darkly comedic, bloody romance about love conquering all, even death. This is NOT a young adult novel. It contains graphic violence, nasty language, and more than a little bit of flesh eating. There are no soft kisses, soulful stares, or moonlit rainstorms.

Quotes:

“Denial was Erwin’s friend, and favorite vacation spot.” – Chapter 4, Love Lies Bleeding

“I can’t figure out what we are playing at, good cop, bad cop, concerned nutritionists …” – Phil, Chapter 5, Love Lies Bleeding

“Don’t worry dear. Be a good girl and you never have to find out what’s in the crate.” – Mr. Doyle, Love Lies Bleeding

“I’m just looking to match this empty shell to my departed soul.” – Pamela, Love Lies Bleeding

“I need help. Or at least directions. I’m being chased by a psycho . . . killer, though given the day I’ve been having I could be wrong about his intentions.” – Pamela, Love Lies Bleeding

The role of screenplay structure in a 1st draft novel [repost]

I don’t usually talk much about the actual craft of writing here … I just like to write my stories and hope you all like them, but I did write the post below, on request, when I was first marketing my novel, After The Virus, in 2011. Now, I am reposting it here by (another) request.

So, any writers wondering how I transitioned from screenplays to novels and what I retained along the way, hopefully you find something interesting below.

Any readers bored by such things, I’ll have something new for you to read VERY soon!!

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*REPOSTED from June 2011 from a Guest Blog Post*

The role of structure in a 1^st draft novel by Meghan Ciana Doidge

Transitioning from writing screenplays into writing novels has been an exciting and daunting task. Exciting, because, after writing screenplays for over 10 years, I fell into writing my first novel, After The Virus, and the writing just flowed. Daunting because now I have to follow up and recapture the magic I found while writing After The Virus.

When I write a screenplay I rely heavily on structure to craft the 1^st draft, and I mostly adhere to the Syd Field school. I don’t even write a single word, other than jotting down scene ideas or bits of dialogue when they come to me, until I have the entire screenplay plotted out. But, I didn’t craft my novel, After The Virus, in this same fashion, though it is quite structured (as that is just in my nature), however its structure ended up, by necessity I now believe, being flexible.

So as I jump into another novel (or 4) I’ve been thinking about screenplay structure and how it applies, for me, to novel writing. Here are the elements that I think are most helpful when crafting a 1^st draft.

1.Three Acts – Beginning, Middle & End – this might be a no brainer for most writers, but it is odd how many stories don’t actually have a clearly defined beginning, middle and end. It is amazing how many novels and/or movies I have read/seen that don’t end well (God, that can ruin a story!!).

So pull out a piece of paper, divide it lengthwise into three sections, and jot down a sentence to describe the beginning of your story (aka your set-up), the middle (aka the confrontation) and the end (aka the resolution). By the way, each sentence should be about the plot not about the characters feelings or thoughts — what happens?

2. The beginning – start with the The Inciting Incident – what is the one action or plot point without which your entire story could not actually take place? Start writing there, and don’t worry about an introductory chapter or setting up the story. What propels the plot? What pushes your protagonist through the story?

After you’ve compelled your 1^st draft and you still think you need an introductory chapter, write it in your 2^nd draft pass. But start in action, and you’ll suck your reader right into the story. The character background, environmental elements, and other introductory items can be worked into the action of the plot as you move forward.

If your story is a chess game, you lead with your queen not one of your pawns. Pawns are follow-up, development. Start strong. Play your queen.

[spoiler alert] In my novel, After The Virus, the inciting incident is when my main protagonist, Rhiannon chooses and then succeeds in escaping her captors. Without this action (aka plot point) none of the remaining story is possible. Note my emphasis on the protagonist choosing to act, there aren’t many stories that can function well with a passive protagonist (there are, of course, always great exceptions to this and any other rule).

3. The middle – also known as the place where writers go to die a slow, painful death – solidify your The Midpoint – this is your hook from which your entire story hangs. If your story was actually hanger this would be the hook that hangs off the closet rod.

The entire first half of your book builds to this point and then something happens that propels us into the second half of the book. This something is directly tied to the main plot and completely changes the game. Someone dies, someone loses, or, in less action driven narratives, someone has a massive epiphany. This is the point of no return. The characters will never, ever be the same and, to repeat myself because I think it is important to stress this point, there is no going back.

To take this a little bit further, the midpoint is usually tied directly to the inciting incident.

[spoiler alert] The midpoint of my novel, After The Virus, is when the mute child, Snickers, falls in the river and Rhiannon – ever the hero – chooses (again, chooses, and risking her own life) to dive in after the child. How is this tied to the inciting incident? By jumping in the river after Snickers, Rhiannon finds herself entering, under duress of course, the very city she escaped at the beginning of the novel, forcing her to confront the thing she ran away from. This midpoint also causes Will, the secondary protagonist, to step up and spring into action. There is literally no turning back from this point forward for Rhiannon or the plot.

Side note: speaking of being flexible with your 1^st draft. What is now the midpoint of my novel (spoiler: Snickers going in the river) I had first thought was my turn into the 3^rdAct (The Climax). As I was writing, it became apparent I was wrong and this plot point was actually my midpoint.

4. The ending – ramp up to The Climax – after the midpoint this is what the entire set-up and confrontation of the novel has been building too, and, after this point, it is all resolution, which doesn’t necessarily mean we are in the happily-ever-after section of the story, but that everything that happens after the climax is a reaction to that climax.

This must be a big moment, ideally it should involve all your main characters, and it is (to paraphrase from Save the Cat) always the darkest night of the soul.

[spoiler alert] In After The Virus, the Climax is the moment Rhiannon stops fighting her (second set of) captors, willingly adopts the movie star persona – a mask which she has spent the entire novel attempting to shed – and chooses to face the evil she’s been running from, in order to save the child.

The 3^rd Act of After The Virus opens with my absolute favourite scene of the novel. Here is the snippet:

A brisk, salty wind, they must be very close to the ocean here, blew through the buildings and billowed around and beyond her. The dress was instantly slicked against her. She could feel the light fabric lift about four feet behind her and her hair a similar sail. Her silk-sheathed nipples rose in protest of the chill, and a murmur, punctuated with gasps, rustled through the following crowd. She gritted her teeth at the exposure, at the perceived sexuality, at the perceived vulnerability of an involuntary bodily function.

They reached for her then.

Lining the sides of street, suddenly as far as she could see, they reached fingers for her, but didn’t touch.

She walked like that for a full block, so close she could feel the brush of energy from each fingertip –thousands of fingers.

What was she to them? The time before? Whatever it was, it wasn’t a role she was willing to accept, or that she was even qualified for.

That’s it! Just four elements with which to construct your 1^st draft: Three Acts, Inciting Incident, Midpoint, and Climax … just make sure the Inciting Incident, Midpoint, and Climax are all tied together, like knots along the same piece of string. ETA: I also like my stories to be shaped like a bow … by tying the very first scene to the last in some way – if I can. This technique will be most obvious in my upcoming release, Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic.

Be flexible, let the writing just flow, and don’t edit yourself … at least not until the 2^nd draft!!

bits of Cupcakes, Trinkets and Other Deadly Magic

I’m working my way through the 2nd draft of my new WIP, Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic. It’s an urban fantasy. Here are some of my favourite bits from this week’s writing (unedited and unproofed, FYI):

– from Monday:

I flung myself at the bus, attempting to not simply collapse on the stairs of the open door.

I couldn’t breathe. The driver didn’t find this particularly charming. I tried a smile, and got an answering one in return. Though I think he might have also just noticed my heaving chest. Good, maybe that would distract him from the fact that I had no fare.

“Hi … “ I managed to speak between gasps, but was becoming uncomfortably aware of the yawning darkness of the vampire-filled night behind me. “Thank you for stopping.” Okay, so it was just one vampire. He was one too many.

– from Tuesday:

“How did you know I lived here?”

The wolf shrugged. “Smells like you.”

“It smells like me?” I echoed, because, when surprised, I tended to be an idiot.

“Yes, your magic is tasty.” This time the wolf did show her teeth when she smiled. I thought that might indicate the conversation was moving in the wrong direction … the woman-eating direction, and not the good kind.

– from Wednesday:

I didn’t answer. The conversation had gotten too serious, too quickly for me. My guard was down. I was feeling soft and malleable after the terrifying evening and the yoga class. I was feeling like leaning on Hudson would be a terribly easy thing to do … right before he broke and probably ate my heart … though I think, according to my research, werewolves generally frowned upon man-eaters.

– from Thursday:

I’d protested the change of location but Sienna had insisted my living room wasn’t the right spot for an earth-based spell, and, countering my suggestion of a park, she laughed and murmured something about needing the protection of the wards.

I hated it when Sienna murmured about magic. A murmur had led to many a close call in our youth. I’d lost my hair at sixteen because of a murmured caveat. It took two months for the skin to grow back on my left hand when I was twenty, also due to a offhanded ‘foot note’ murmured by Sienna.

Why I kept following her into these situations was pure stupidity on my part, but it seemed she always caught me just at the right time — this time I was angry and needing to prove I wasn’t just worthless garbage to be left on the side of the road.

Hence the dirt that was now coating the ass and legs of my second favorite pair of jeans. The floor was actually hard packed, but still dirt rubbed off.

– from Friday:

Gah! I didn’t end up writing Friday. Boo.

What have you been working on?