Starting a new series of memes and graphics, because…FUN! 🙂 Please feel free to share anywhere you wish. This is a quote from my latest book, A Boy Named Rabbit. Find it on amazon HERE. Thanks!
Romantic Suspense
Thanks to Evelyn Cullet!
Just wanted to take a moment to thank our own Evelyn Cullet for having me as Guest Blogger today. It’s always fun to visit with other writers, and Evelyn is a real sweetheart! Thanks, Evelyn! To check it out, go here: Evelyn Cullet
And while you’re there, be sure to take a look around the rest of Evelyn’s Author Page and blog, too.
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Excerpt from Rough Draft of “Hunter”, Book 2 of the Riverbend Series
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
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Excerpt from A Boy Named Rabbit CH 16
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
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Excerpt from Hunter, Riverbend Book 2
Those of you who have read Swamp Ghosts and keep asking when Hunter is coming out will be glad to know it’s still on schedule for a late summer, early fall publication date. And just as a special treat for ya, I’m sharing the Prologue here today. This is a Work In Progress, so it will no doubt be tightened and polished a good bit in editing, but here’s the rough draft. Enjoy!
***
Dawn, March 20, 2014
~~~
EVERYTHING WAS PAIN. Everything he felt, everything he remembered. Pain, and pain, and pain. His dreams were filled with sounds of agony, screams ricocheting through his head. And blood. Rivers of blood, forming scarlet, coppery-scented puddles that spread across the darkness.
He woke up on his knees, vomiting into the grass. Afterward, he crawled back up onto the park bench, mouth sour, and head throbbing. Shivering, he tried to push the dreams away, but they weren’t ready to let him go.
Something bad, that was the problem. He had done something bad. Worse than bad. Something unthinkable. He understood that his crime was the root of all his dreams, and if only he could remember, he’d know what he needed to do next. But when he tried to get it straight in his head, the screams would start again, followed by that God-awful, unrelenting pain.
As the day dawned around him, he huddled bent over on the bench, the smell of cheap whiskey on his breath, and sledgehammers pounding inside his skull. He scrubbed at his eyes, as though that would wipe away the images of all that blood, and make the last echoes of those agonized screams disappear. His only clear thought was how to make it all end. Something—someone—needed to die. Fight fire with fire, blood with blood, pain with pain. Oh, yes. That was the answer.
Shuffling to his unsteady feet, he walked through the morning mist. He had no idea what state he was in, let alone the name of this little town, but he heard the unmistakable whoosh of cars speeding down a highway. In five minutes, he stood by the edge of the southbound lane, holding out his thumb. Instinct told him the direction to travel, and desperation kept him upright, as he waited for the ride that would take him where he needed to go. His plan was simple. If death would bring an end to this pain, then someone was going to die.
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A Boy Named Rabbit is Out on Kindle!
Wooohoooo! Finally, in spite of all kinds of obstacles in my way, I was able to upload A Boy Named Rabbit to Kindle last night, and it’s live and available for purchase today!! Those of you who have been asking when it would arrive…it’s here! Lots of launching bells and whistles have fallen by the wayside, due to my long bout with the flu, but no matter. Nothing can make me feel sad today! My third novel, the sequel to Wake-Robin Ridge is out!
If you are one of the ones who read Wake-Robin Ridge and asked if the sequel was coming, you’re in luck. Check it out here! If you haven’t yet read Wake-Robin Ridge, hang in there another day or two, and a boxed set with both books in it will be available at a special, discounted rate, so you can read Book 1 and Book 2 at once. 🙂
A Boy Named Rabbit is very dear to my heart, as it features an extraordinary little boy’s lonely journey through the wilderness on a quest to find the Good People. Rabbit was more fun to write than any character I’ve attempted so far, and his insights on the world (which he has been hidden away from for his entire life) vary from funny to surprisingly profound. I never knew what words were going to come out of Little Rabbit’s mouth until they fell off my fingers and onto the page.
Of course, there’s plenty of drama and danger involved, a few spills and chills, loads of worry from the ever angsty MacKenzie Cole, patient understanding and kindness from Sarah, and plenty of the kind of love only an adorable ten-year-old boy can inspire. Hope you’ll cheer for him, laugh with him, cry with him, and most of all, never, ever forget him.
Join Rabbit on the journey that begins with his gran’s dying gasps: “Evil’s comin’, Boy…comin’ fast. Look for the man with eyes like winter skies…an hair like…a crow’s wing. He’ll keep you safe…from bad people. He’s the one…you gotta find.”
The Write Stuff 