WIPpet Wednesday – Feeling nervous (and a cover reveal mention…)

~ Elaine Jeremiah

Hi everyone!  Hope you’re all well.  This is gonna be a special week for me – or I should say a special day on Friday because… IT’S MY FIRST COVER REVEAL!  It’s for my new novel Reunion of the Heart, a romance, which I’m going to publish shortly.

To coin an American phrase  (or at least I think it’s American!) which I’ve heard in blog land  I’m super excited!!!  Thank you in advance to my 10 lovely volunteers who’re gonna help me out with it.  It’s going to be great.

All right, back to the main event.  Today’s WIPpet is for my… all right, yes, still untitled novel-to-be romance about the school teacher.  To remind you non-British people, she works at a secondary school for 11-16 yr olds.  In this scene Rebecca, my MC, is facing the dreaded parents’ evening.

Now because we’re such an international group of writers in WIPpet Wednesday, I’m not going to assume anything, so in case you’re unsure what a parents’ evening is (forgive me if you do know what it is!!), it’s just a chance for parents of children at a school to discuss their child’s work and achievements (or lack of them!!) with their child’s teacher(s).

Rebecca is a new teacher and this is her first term (semester??), so she wants to get things right.  I’m sharing 3 paragraphs, 2 + 1 from the year.

Rebecca looked at herself in the mirror and adjusted the collar of her white blouse.  Her long jet black hair was pulled back into a neat chignon, her blouse and skirt suit had been carefully ironed and she’d taken extra care with her makeup, wanting it to be subtle but enhancing at the same time.  Anyone would think I was going on a date, she thought, her wry smile reflected in the mirror.

But this evening would be ten times more nerve wracking than a date.  Tonight was parents’ evening at Wyncliffe High and Rebecca was feeling as scared as someone about parachute out of a plane for the very first time.  It was the middle of October and Rebecca had been dreading this evening for weeks.  Now that it was finally here she just wanted it to be over and done with.

She sighed as she walked out of the bathroom, picked up her heavy bag, coat and keys from the living room and exited the flat.  She would have liked to cycle to the school as she normally did, but hadn’t wanted to be too sweaty and out of breath when she got there.  Rebecca desperately wanted to make a good impression.  She was particularly anxious about meeting one of the parents there – Audi-Man.

If you’ve been reading our WIPpets and you’re thinking ‘That’s something I’d like to do’, it’s easy to join in.  Just post on your blog whatever you’ve been working on writing-wise lately and ideally make sure it relates in some way to the date.  Then put your details on this linky.  Don’t forget to have a read of what the other WIPpeteers have shared too. 🙂

Thank you to our wise and knowledgeable leader aka K. L. Schwengel for also being our gracious hostess. 😉

Published by Elaine Jeremiah

I live with my husband and dog in the UK. I'm the author of four novels, my latest being a Jane Austen fan fiction time travel romance, 'Love Without Time'.

27 thoughts on “WIPpet Wednesday – Feeling nervous (and a cover reveal mention…)”

  1. Can’t wait for Friday. 😀

    Audi-man. *big grin* Oh yeah. I can relate to her nervousness. I dread events of most any type. Hence the fact I have never done a book signing. Although I was forced to do several art openings. Paste on smile. Be professional. Hurryupandgetitoverwith. Heave sigh of relief when done.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Ah thanks Kathi, I’m so looking forward to it too. 😀

      I’m not a hugely confident person so I can definitely empathise with Rebecca here! And book signings… well technically I haven’t currently got any print copies of my book. But I think I’d be nervous if I was in that situation.

      Like

      Reply

  2. Due to my scattered brain, I can’t keep up with WIPpets like I’d like to, so apologies if he’s been mentioned before, but I just have to know more about this Audi-man! That’s a great slice of interest right there; I want to read more! Nicely done, Elaine.

    So excited about your cover reveal and impending publication, too! Congrats x a million.

    Like

    Reply

    1. He’s only been mentioned once before on WIPpet Wednesday so you’re OK 😉

      And yes he’s back in the story having had a hiatus for a few chapters! (this is the first time he’s properly in it since ch 1!)

      Oh I’m really excited about the cover reveal and impending launch of my novel too! Nothing beats the feeling of sharing your work with the world – exciting and nerve wracking!

      Like

      Reply

  5. Hi Elaine. Please add me to your list of those who are gonna help out! I have a pretty busy blog schedule till middle of Aug or thereabouts but am more than happy to host you on my blog after that.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi there Shehanne! Thanks so much for your comment and offer of help. The cover reveal is this Friday, so not so much help needed on that score, but maybe I could schedule an author interview/guest post on your blog at some point? There’s really no rush, whenever.

      I did a blog tour last year when I was releasing my debut novel but I didn’t find it that helpful so I thought I’d do things differently this time around. And I haven’t done a cover reveal before so I’m really excited about that! 🙂

      Like

      Reply

      1. Good luck to you on Friday. Yes we can schedule a visit no bother. I have a contact form on my blog but someone said there was a prob with it last week. There was a prob anyway between aol and Hotmail so, it could be that. if you can contact me we can chat properly. I’ll go see if you are on twitter just in case.

        Like

    1. Lots of people are intrigued about Audi-Man it seems! Don’t worry, you’ll be seeing a lot more of him in this story! I’m glad you can relate to the situation my MC is in. I kind of write from experience – my parents are both retired teachers, so I know a little about what it’s like. Thanks so much for your comment. 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  7. Ooh, Audi-man is back. He intrigues me, though I don’t think I like him yet. He didn’t seem very friendly last time.

    I’m very excited that I get to share your cover! 🙂

    Like

    Reply

  8. haha, so you guys don’t say “super excited”? What do you say instead? And we have those kind of parent nights too. We usually call them open houses (for younger grades where parents can all meet the teacher at once) or parent-teacher conferences, where parents and teachers meet one on one. Oh, and by the way, my dad ended up marrying my brother’s first-grade teacher, so… you never know what might come of one of those meetings! 😉

    Like

    Reply

    1. I guess we’d say ‘really excited’ or ‘so excited’, or maybe ‘it’s so exciting’ lol. It’s interesting how different countries approach education and how they do things in different ways. That’s a good story about your dad. I hope it was a happy union. Thanks for the comment. 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  10. Congrats on your soon-to-be-published book and that cover reveal. It’s pretty wonderful when you fall in love with the cover and it fits your genre perfectly! Interesting note on interview/blog hops as a way to promote that new book. As a self-published author, I’m always thrilled to read about what works for others. And I can empathize with your MC. Her teacherly nerves as a newbie teacher come through clearly!

    Like

    Reply

  11. I’d be nervous, too, if I knew I was going to run back into Audi-man. And given the way a lot of parents tend to treat their kids’ teachers (at least in my boyfriend’s experience when he was teaching), I don’t blame Rebecca for any apprehension.

    Like

    Reply

  12. Congratulations on your cover reveal! I find this snippet intriguing as I work at school as well. (Though I am not a teacher) Curious to hear more about the Audi-man. 😀

    Like

    Reply

Please share your thoughts...