First draft on the cover.

Real life moment going into Chapter 17

I'm at a slight standstill in my book. My main character learns how to fire a gun and I have no idea how to describe it. That said, yes....I'm gonna learn how to fire a gun with the help of a friend. Excited and scared all at the same time, love that feeling though!

Chapter 4 excerpt.

    I lay back staring at the sky for a while and slowly closed my eyes. Everything was so perfect, I thought to myself.  Then I felt Damon’s lips fall onto mine. They were soft, moist and still tasted of wine.  He lightly kissed my lower lip and then my upper lip and embraced both my lips with his. I opened my mouth slightly to allow him inside.  I tasted him fully now.  His tongue caressed mine and his fingers fondled my hair.  I pulled him on top of me so I could feel his full weight.  The desire from deep within my body boiled to the top as he grasped my sides.  I reached up and tangled my fingers in his hair, pulling his face closer to mine. My breathing was heavier now and my heart raced faster as I could hear each breath he took in my ear. The once soft kisses had turned to deep passionate kisses.  His mouth moved slowly down my neck, exploring each inch and circled my breastbone, biting it slightly.  I wanted his lips touching mine again but my body was craving his mouth too.  I gave a small push and rolled him onto his back into the sand and now I was on top of him.  My lips collapsed onto his and I was in control of what I wanted. My tongue encircled his, tasting and devouring every part of his mouth.  I pressed my groin firmly to his as my nipples pierced my dress; they were longing to be kissed and caressed too.  A loud thud hit the sand...............

Sneak peek from a recently finished Chapter 16

 Damon set the tan vented airline carrier on the longue at my feet and I stared at the opening only to find another set of eyes staring back at me.  They beamed a bright yellowish green like a driveway reflector in the darkest of the night.  I leaned forward and unzipped the carrier as Damon watched with his breath held tight.  The head poked through just a bit and I reached in with both my hands to pull the rest of him out.  He was a gorgeous all black cat that quickly found his way into my arms, purring and nudging me slightly under my chin.

Fire Starter

As I'm nearing the end of chapter 15, I wanted to share with you the difficulty of writing this chapter.  It has taken a long time for me to complete because of one particular scene.  Effie, the main character heads to work on a Monday morning only to find her building has burnt and her very good friend has been taken to the hospital.  Because of her gift she enters the building in hopes to get visions from what has happened there.  As I write this part of the chapter, I know that I have not been in a burnt building, smelled one or know the best way to start a fire let alone to describe it all.  The starting of any fire is easy; starting a fire with an undetectable origin is the hard part.  So I contacted the county fire investigator and asked if he would give me ten minutes of his time to help me out with this.  He gave me more than ten minutes and all the tools necessary to complete the scene.  I learned things that I didn't think I'd ever learn.  He said he would return with pictures too which would aid me in my description.  Just that one scene took three weeks, probably the longest so far.  It was fun to write and I hope that the readers wont get any new bright ideas!

Artwork for the cover

Moving right along now.  Its only been 5 days and I seemed to have moved mountains.  Today a fabulous young lady signed on to do the artwork for the cover.  She just graduated from the school of Visual Arts in New York City, New York with a BFA in Fine Arts.  Her name is Sarah Smith and she is awesome.  Her website is http://www.sarahsmithart.com  So if you have time, feel free to check it out.  I had the privilege to see many of her projects over the years and her eye for detail always amazed me.  One of my favorites is a sketch of my husbands grandfather, the likeness blew me away.  I am sure she will put the magic touches of hers to work and will design the perfect cover.  Sarah's portrait  she will paint will play an essential part to the end of the book.  She also has a brother who loves to photograph.  His name is Caleb and he will try his hand at some creative photography as well.  What a talented family and so thrilled they're a part of my life! 

Book Titile, Reminiscence

It only took me from October of 2009 to find a title for my book.  I started with "Dear John" only to be told there's a movie called that.  Then I moved on to, "P.S. I love you" only to find out that exists too.  I wanted the title to be relative to a written letter.  I gave up for a while and the other day in my tiredness I got silly when I Googled salutations.  My friends and i came up with, screw you, don't call me - I'll call you, F off and die and a few other choice fun ways to end a letter.  I must have looked at 250 different salutations til my eyes crossed and nothing seemed to fit.  I went home and later put in my status bar on Facebook, Reflecting.  I actually was at that point.    It wasn't til the next day when i was playing around with my Facebook and saw my old status, Reflecting.  I was looking back at events in my life--my past.  Everything just clicked at that moment.  My main character in the book, Effie, spends a great deal of her time learning how to control visions of others pasts by touching objects that belong to them or touching them directly.  A gift and a curse. The visions are like memories to Effie. Then the name of the book was clear to me.  Reminiscence!  I just knew it was right and it felt good.  It only took me one year and nine months.   Nothing good ever comes easy so it must be good!

My synopsis for my book:

 Effie, a small time Lawyer from Michigan escapes money and corruption to find a place where she can feel at home and be herself.  Along the way she embraces her roots of the once nomadic people called gypsies.  Her special ability to look into someone’s past by a simple touch rips her from her quickly found comfort and places her in the center of a murder with a connection to police corruption. A budding romance with a simple bartender ends with deceit and the discovery of Brunswick’s best kept secret, but not before she finds herself in the arms of another man.  Torn between two lovers and a near death experience drives her to do the unthinkable.  This book has all the ingredients to grab the attention of any reader.  Action, mystery, crime, sex and the unknown will keep you wanting more.

The journey thus far.

So I'm sitting at the Dogwood with my Editor expecting to talk about the next Chapter she was going to edit for me.  In the midst of my disappointment in hearing about Coke only products she informs me that I need to start publicizing my book and myself too.  I just about choked before I even had my food.  Website, Facebook fan page, Blog site, Twitter...go go go!  Website-check.  Facebook fan page-check.  Twitter-check check.  But the Blog thing took a while  and when it was done, I sat and stared at an empty page.  I asked myself, "What am I supposed to do with it now?"

I have no title for my book yet.  I am nearing the end and have it in my sight now.  My book has a life of its own and some things that have happened on my journey in writing it have even surprised me.  The idea first came to me shortly after I finished Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer and read her Bio one night.  I thought to myself...I can do this too.  So, I picked up a pen and pad of paper and just started writing.  The very next day I was typing and when the week was done, I had completed the first two chapters.  Research takes the longest because I like to get everything right.  I had to research the setting of the book, the bed and breakfast in the town it takes place,  restaurants, Italian food, the making of candles and so much more.  The most exciting part of my research was watching a video on Youtube on how to sail a boat.  I've learned a lot along the way and it's what keeps me going.

I've had some downturns too.  Went through some rough times and when things were not right in my heart, I couldn't put my heart into the book.  I must have went five months without writing a word.  Then there was interviewing.  I've had to interview people too and that you have to do on their time which isn't always your time.  The most memorable interview though was with a local fire investigator learning how fires burn, how people start them, where they go wrong and what a building looks like when its had a fire.  Another wall came with "Dialogue".  Ugh, I had a rough time with dialogue.  I hated quotation marks.  My chapter two was returned to me and every other paragraph said, "more dialogue."  Chapter three was returned to me three times, dialogue, dialogue, dialogue.  By chapter 15, i think i got it-lol.

With that said, Lookie here!  my first blog is done.  Follow me along the way on my journey to writing my first book.  I'll try not to disappoint.