Siren Excerpt

June 3, 2015 / Jenny / 1 Comment

Siren glanced down. The cat was the only thing visible in the shadows around their feet, his stark white fur practically glowing in the dark and his large, unblinking eyes catching the flickering lightning in an iridescent display when it flashed.

“I’ll just stand here and shiver to death then.”

A perturbed breath lodged in Carver’s throat and he took a step back, blocking out the minimal light streaming through the door behind him. “Oh for crying out loud,” he sighed again. “I’ll take care of the alarm now. I just have to find it first. Nobody move, please.”

Siren had no intention of moving. She felt weird enough as it was, standing in the middle of a stranger’s sun porch with a wicked storm raging just beyond the shutters blocking out the world. The humid air smelled clean, like laundry had only just been taken from the dryer and the owners gave everything a good scrub down with pine cleaner and lemon-scented dusting spray moments before they walked through the door.

In the dark, however, every sound was amplified. Carver’s scuffed dress shoes clomped quietly across the hardwood, and she swore Mr. Pounce was scratching at himself as if he’d come down with a bad case of fleas. The cool floorboards creaked beneath her sandy feet, her knee clicking audibly as she started to turn away from the window to stare into the house around her. Continue reading →

Excerpt Week | Seeking Solace

June 2, 2015 / Callum McLaughlin / 13 Comments

Marcia has encouraged us all to share excerpts from our works and seeing as she recently posted a wonderful 5 star review of my poetry collection, Seeking Solace, it seemed entirely appropriate to share one of the poems she mentioned as a favourite, entitled ‘Rise’.

—

RISE

Rise dear phoenix from the ashes
spread your wings and fly.
Wouldn’t they just love it
if you simply lay and die?

Little one, I’ll dry your tears
and bruises they shall heal.
For though they see the scars they make
they know not what we feel.

Be the light among the dark
and guide the lost ones home
to show we fight for what is right
and our hearts are ours to own.

So stand upon the rubble proud
for you are still alive.
It is not about the wounds we bear
but that we do still strive.

—

Seeking Solace is the most recent of my publications and features sixty poems on a range of subjects. You can find it on Amazon UK, Amazon US and Goodreads.

Thanks for stopping by! I look forward to reading everyone else’s excerpts.

Happy #TeaserTuesday!

June 2, 2015 / Jenny / 1 Comment

Heart of the Sun is available now everywhere eBooks are sold for just $2.99

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Excerpt from #ABoyNamedRabbit by #MarciaMeara

June 1, 2015June 3, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 1 Comment

Ten-year-old Rabbit has finally made his way out of the wilderness and has been taken in by Sarah and MacKenzie Cole, while they decide what to do about him. (They have very different ideas on that score.) It’s his first morning at what he has nicknamed Angel House, and everything is new and wondrous to him.

Chapter 7

Is It Like Lightnin’, Then?

~~~

EARLY SUNDAY MORNING
APRIL 28, 2013
DAY 1 AT ANGEL HOUSE

“IS IT LIKE lightnin’, then? This here ‘lectricity stuff?” Rabbit was staring at the overhead fixture again, still trying to grasp the concept of being able to flip a switch and have light flood the room. Of everything that had caught his attention—and almost everything in the house had—that was the one thing he kept coming back to. And hot water on tap, of course.

Mac sat at the end of the island, sipping coffee and trying not to get pulled into the conversation, but I knew he was listening as I tried again to explain.

“I don’t know exactly how it all works, but I’m pretty good at knowing how to put it to use. The electricity is harnessed and then sent out through wires and into our house. And then we can use it to make things light up, or heat up, or cool down. If you do it right, it’s wonderful, but you have to be careful with electrical things, so you don’t accidentally get shocked.”

“You mean like it’d get away from you if you wasn’t careful? I seen what lightnin’ can do when it hits trees an’ such. It’s a powerful thing, an’ it can kill, too. Seen a deer what was struck by lightnin’ once. Burnt him pretty bad, but we ate us some venison for days after.” Continue reading →

Excerpt from Rough Draft of “Hunter”, Book 2 of the Riverbend Series

March 15, 2015March 16, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 4 Comments

Slipping in here in the last couple of hours of Excerpt Week, with a longish scene from the rough draft of Chapter 4 of Hunter, my sequel to Swamp Ghosts. Hunter Painter is Gunnar Wolfe’s best friend, though even Gunn doesn’t really understand him. Hunter marches to a very different drummer than most of the folks in Riverbend, Florida. In an unguarded moment, Hunter confesses to Gunn that he has loved Willow Greene since the 11th grade, over 16 years ago, and Gunn advised him strongly to call her. After much internal agonizing, he does and finds himself having lunch with Willow at her cottage, when things take a surprising turn, scaring Hunter away in a panic. (He still lives at home, btw, helping care for his ailing mother.)

*******

HUNTER GROANED, PULLING his feather pillow over his head not only to block out the world, but just in case he started shouting in frustration, which is what he felt like doing.

What the hell happened? What the bloody hell just happened? Everything was fine. It was going better than I ever thought it would, and then suddenly it all went crazy. She kissed me! Why the hell did she kiss me like that? How the hell was I supposed to resist that?

The memory of that kiss rocketed into him so hot and fast, it scorched path through his soul. Never in his life had a kiss transported him that way. He could still feel her mouth under his, sweet and yielding, and burning like fire. The raspberry scent of her hair lingered on his hands, and he would never, ever forget the taste of her skin. Every nerve ending in his body felt burned raw from the experience—so sensitive, the slightest breeze sliding over it might cause unbearable pain.

But somewhere in his torment, he also remembered how she had responded to him, moaning into that kiss, and whispering his name over and over as they clung to each other. She had wanted him, too, a concept that had never once seemed a possibility to him in all the years he had loved her.

Doesn’t make it any better, does it, you stupid fool? Still never gonna happen. You don’t belong with Willow Greene, and nothing’s going to change that. All you’re doin’ here is torturing yourself. Continue reading →

Excerpt from A Boy Named Rabbit CH 16

March 15, 2015March 16, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 8 Comments

Just want to get in one or two more short excerpts before the night is over. These two brief scenes from A Boy Named Rabbit come about after some very tense and frightening things happen to Rabbit. Mac wanted to give him a few hours of fun, so he took him to the waterfall and pool where Rabbit first camped upon reaching Wake-Robin Ridge. Rabbit doesn’t believe for one minute that Mac can be crazy, having mostly seen him in serious mode. And since Mac is notoriously angsty and always worried about something, Rabbit has good reason for his doubts. This is his response after finding out Mac does have his moments.

***

Scene 1

…I closed my eyes, braced for Rabbit’s reaction, but to my surprise, he didn’t start crying again. Instead, he squared his shoulders and with a determined nod of his head, announced, “Well, then—I reckon we need us a plan.”

“I think you’re right. We do need a plan. But what we need even more right this minute, is a break from all this worrying. Why don’t we do something fun for a couple of hours, and then come back and tackle the problem when we’ve cleared our heads a bit? Nothing like looking at things with fresh eyes, you know. What do you think, partner? Want to go have some laughs?”

The boy stared at Mac like he’d grown another head.

“Why are you giving me that look? I know how to laugh, Rabbit. I do.”

“You ain’t laughed much that I’ve seen.”

“Well, maybe that’s because there hasn’t been a lot to laugh about. But that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to have a good time. Tell him, Sarah.”

I rolled my eyes, and grinned. “Um, yeah, okay. Mac knows how to have fun. Sort of.”

Grabbing his heart, Mac slumped down on the couch. “Et tu, Sarah? Why does everyone think I’m so anti-fun? Am I really that bad?”

He was pathetic, and I had to work to keep a straight face, while Rabbit glanced back and forth between the two of us, not knowing what to expect. “Not always, but you’ll have to admit, it’s been a long time since you’ve done anything really crazy.”

“Crazy? You want crazy? I can do crazy, you know.” Continue reading →