Tag: Anna

Wow what a wonderful WIPpet Wednesday!

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 30 Comments

Argument

OK so last week I promised you a longer excerpt from Reunion this week.  Using my clever WIPpet maths, I’ve come up with 4 paragraphs from chapter 14: 2+2=4 (amazing that, I can do maths!!) and obviously chapter 14 for the year. 🙂

I have something to tell you that made me frown.  I’ve told ReGi already… I did some searching on Amazon just to check and there’s another book out there called Reunion with a plot that’s not completely dissimilar to mine. 😦  ReGi was kindly trying to help me come up with another title.  My husband reckons it doesn’t matter too much if I have a subtitle with it.

But… aargh!  I kind of get the feeling that if I don’t change the title and the plot stays the same (that’s one thing I’m not changing for love or money!!) then I could land myself in some hot water.  *Sigh*  It’s so difficult coming up with brand new inspiring titles.  I need help!!  Any more suggestions??

All right then, on with today’s WIPpet.  This scene takes place just after Anna has had a row with her now-boyfriend Peter.  These are turbulent times for her…

Waving goodbye to Peter as he made his way to the platform to catch the train back to London, Anna felt relief wash over her.  Relief quickly replaced by guilt.  She shouldn’t feel relieved that he was going – he was her boyfriend for goodness sake – but she was.  Turning away from his disappearing form, she began to make her way out of the station.  The cold dry weather they’d been experiencing had turned to cold wet weather and it was beginning to rain.  Anna pulled her hood up and dashed to her car.

She used the journey home to brood over Peter’s visit and how it had made her feel.  Remembering their love making, her face grew hot.  There was certainly nothing wrong in that department.  But why oh why had he felt it necessary to try to bestow expensive trinkets on her?  And more importantly, why should it matter to her if he did? 

As these thoughts were whirling around her head, Anna was startled by a horn blasting at her.  Shocked, she realised she’d been drifting into the opposite lane on the road.  Get a grip, Anna, she told herself.  Forget about Peter and concentrate on driving if you want to make it home.  She banished the troubling thoughts from her head and focused her attention on getting home safely.

When she reached the safety of her driveway, Anna turned the engine off and sat there for a moment in silence, staring blankly at her garage door.  I could have been killed, she thought.  This obsessing about Peter could have cost me my life.  Slowly, she got out of the car and leaned against it for a moment as if for support, ignoring the cold of its metal shell. 

Thanks as always for having a look at my work, all comments gratefully received!  Anyone can take part in WIPpet Wednesday.  All you’ve got to do is share a bit of your work that relates in some way to the date. Then add your details to this.  Be sure to take a look at what the other WIPpeteers are sharing.  Thank you, thank you, thank you K. L. Schwengel for hosting! 🙂

A WIPpet for Wednesday

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 25 Comments

OK, so not the most fantastic of titles but it’s the best I could do. I hope this WIPpet finds you well and getting into the swing of 2014.

For this week’s WIPpet Wednesday I thought I’d share with you 15 words from chapter 1 of my current WIP Reunion. Like many of my fellow WIPpeteers, I’m finding it hard to… well find parts to share that don’t give away half the plot.

So this week I’m keeping it short but sweet. This line is further on in the same chapter from last week’s excerpt. Anna is thinking about the people she might see at the school reunion.

It would be good to see Lizzie and Rachel again, but they wouldn’t necessarily go.

I will try and be less stingy with the excerpt next week! Looking forward to reading yours.

Wanna join in the WIPpet Wednesday fun? No problem – just share an excerpt from your current WIP on your blog. Make sure it relates to the date somehow. Then go here to add your details to the list. And you’re off!

Thank you K. L. Schwengel for hosting! 🙂

My 1st WIPpet Wednesday of the new year!

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 24 Comments

Hi all! Hope you had a fantastic Christmas and New Year and that you haven’t eaten or drunk too much!! 😉 I have to admit, I put on a bit of weight which I’m not happy about. 😦 I’m trying to tackle it by healthier eating. So we shall see if I can lose a bit again.

Anyway, on to the WIPpet Wednesday excerpt. It’s the 8th January today, so just to be annoying I’m going to take you back to chapter 1 and give you 8 lines from my current WIP Reunion. At this point in the story, Anna is at home working. She’s a full time writer (ah, bliss) and she’s just picking up the day’s post (or mail to you American folks!!) which has arrived.

A couple of envelopes were identical, she noticed with a frown, rectangular and plain brown. One was addressed to her, the other to Melissa. The post mark was Holmsborough.

She opened hers and quickly read what it said. It was an invitation to a school reunion – her secondary school. It was going to be held at the school itself and would happen in a couple of months’ time.

Immediately her mind transported her back to her painfully unhappy school days. She saw again the school corridor and herself rushing down it, trying to get away from the catcalls and taunts she’d had to endure on a daily basis.

So there you go. I look forward to reading your comments and I will certainly check out other WIPpeteers’ offerings.

If you would like to take part in WIPpet Wednesday, it’s easy. Simply post an excerpt of what you’re currently working on writing-wise which relates in some way to the date. Then add your name to this linky. And you’re done.

Thank you K. L. Schwengel for hosting!

 

A brief WIPpet Wednesday

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 23 Comments

Hi all.

This is going to have to be quick as I haven’t got a huge amount of time today. But I hope you’re all well and not too stressed out by the pre-Christmas rush.

My WIPpet this week is a tease (again!). I’m sharing 21 words from chapter 12 of my work in progress.  My maths works like this: 18 for the 18th + 2 + 1 (from 2013) = 21 I’ll let you figure out the rest!!

The scene I’m sharing is from Reunion and it follows directly on from last week’s.  Anna is trying not to think about her experience with Will a week ago.

Anyway she should try and forget about Will and think about Peter instead.  He was coming down to see her tomorrow.

I’m guessing we’re not doing WIPpet Wednesday next week seeing as it’ll be Christmas Day.  Yay!  (for Christmas Day, not because I don’t want to connect with you guys via WIPpet Wednesday!!)  I hope you all have a wonderful time.

To be a part of WIPpet Wednesday just post on your blog an excerpt of whatever you’re working on writing-wise. Just make sure it relates in some way to the date. Then add your name to this linky.  Thanks goes to K. L. Schwengel for hosting.

All that’s left to say is Merry Christmas to you all!! And I just realised that this is my 100th post on my blog!! So yay for that too. 😀

WIPpet Wednesday once again

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 32 Comments

I hope you’ve all had a good week.  I’ve been doing some Christmas shopping, some online some in regular shops.  Thankfully I don’t have too many people to buy for so that’s good for me!

Anyway on to the main event on my blog today: WIPpet Wednesday.  Seeing as it’s the eleventh of December today, I thought I’d share with you 10 lines from chapter 12 of my current WIP Reunion.

Only 10 lines?  I hear you ask.  OK 11-1 = 10 and I just felt the extract works better without the extra line.  It follows directly on from last week’s WIPpet post.  A week has passed since Anna’s run in with Will and she’s sitting comfortably on the sofa in her best friend’s new house, thinking about what happened.

Anna closed her eyes as she was sitting on the sofa of Melissa’s front room, basking in the warmth of the new house.  It was now Friday evening.  In less than a week Melissa had managed to get most of her belongings packed away.  Although she’d told Anna she wanted to do some decorating, to make her mark on it, the house was pretty much up together now. 

Anna was unsurprised.  Melissa always had been organised.  She’d been in her new house for a week now.  And almost a week had passed since Anna’s run-in with Will yet she couldn’t stop thinking about it, trying to make sense of it.  Why was he stalking her?  Was he obsessed with her? 

So if you want to take part in WIPpet Wednesday just post on your blog an excerpt of whatever you’re currently working on writing-wise that relates in some way to the date.  Then hop along to this linky and add your name.

Thanks goes to K. L. Schwengel for hosting. 🙂

Neglecting herself – WIPpet Wednesday

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 18 Comments

I’m being kind to myself again by not having an image with this post and therefore not having to scour Google images for ages looking for a suitable photo!!

Anyway onto the task at hand: For this week’s WIPpet Wednesday I’m being kind to you too (slightly kinder than last week anyway) by sharing with you 11 lines from chapter 13 of my current WIP Reunion.

The maths is simple: 11 for the month, 13 for the year. There you go easy peasy.  Moving swiftly on, at this point in the story… I might give too much of the plot away by telling you what I was going to tell you!

All I will say is that my MC Anna has been neglecting herself.  She’s been brooding about stressful things that have happened to her and she’s really low physically and run down.

A few paragraphs ago from this excerpt she fainted.  (Gosh I think I tell people more about myself than about this WIP!!)

And here you have it:

Anna nodded obediently and closed her eyes, sinking back down onto the softness of the pillow.  She thought about her eating habits over the past few weeks.  When Melissa had been here they’d eaten well every night.  Melissa was a great cook.  And before that Elliot had prepared her delicious meals.  Cooking had never been Anna’s strong point.  Since Melissa had left, she’d mainly lived on simple pasta dishes or oven food.  Sometimes, especially when stressed, she’d forget to eat. 

And she had been stressed lately.  What with her run in with Will which had thrown her and made her anxious, Melissa moving out and the pressures of her book needing to be finished, things had been difficult.  Anna realised that she’d been neglecting herself and not really eating properly.

To take part in WIPpet Wednesday just post on your blog your recent writing work.  Then add your name to this linky.  Rule: the amount of your excerpt you share must relate in some way to the date.

Big thanks to K. L. Schwengel for being lovely and hosting all us crazy WIPpeteers. 🙂

WIPpet Wednesday again!

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 23 Comments

Leaving

Well I’m knackered. I’ve just done over 1000 words on my WIP and whilst that may not be a lot to you NaNoWriMo people, it’s a lot to me!!

So I’m going to keep this short but sweet. Today being the 13th November, I’m sharing 13 lines from chapter 11. How’s that for simple?! Anyway at this point in Reunion, my current WIP, my MC Anna is miserable (again!) because her best friend Melissa is moving out of her home and into her own place.

Melissa moved in after Anna kicked her erstwhile boyfriend out. She’s been a shoulder for Anna to cry on, oh and she needed somewhere to live. So it was a win win situation. But now she’s moving to a new house a mere 10 minute drive away from Anna’s. Well, enough of that. Here it is. Enjoy!

The winter sunlight created soft dancing shadows on the bedroom wall. Anna blinked in the low light as she watched her best friend heave the last of her big suitcases out of the spare room.

Melissa’s announcement had seemed so sudden. Only a few months ago she’d told her that she wanted to look for a place of her own.

‘I can’t stay with you forever, Anna,’ she’d said as they sipped their wine one evening in the garden. It was late August and they’d been sitting on the comfortable, elegant wicker chairs Anna only brought outside when it was warm. That evening the weather was soft and balmy; a gentle breeze caressed Anna’s bare shoulders.

‘I know.’ Anna sighed distracted by a beautiful butterfly fluttering around the rosebush adjacent to their seats.

‘I mean, I just feel I need my own place, my own space, somewhere that’s mine. That’s not to say that I haven’t enjoyed living with you, because I have. I’ve loved every minute of it.’

Anna nodded and gave her friend a big smile which she didn’t feel.

If you would like to join in the WIPpet Wednesday fun, all you have to do is post an excerpt from your current WIP on your blog. The rule is it must relate in some way to the date. Then add your name to this linky. Thanks goes to K. L. Schwengel for hosting. 🙂

A new beginning – WIPpet Wednesday

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 24 Comments

New beginning

I’m annoyed. Why you might ask? Well it’s because I’m sure that in a previous WIPpet Wednesday post I shared an excerpt from Reunion where my MC Anna is telling her friends about her messy break up. But I can’t find it anywhere. I’ve searched on my blog about 3 times and it’s nowhere. Grrr.

Anyway the reason I wanted it was to have it to refer to today because I’ve amended the beginning of Reunion to make it more gripping from the very first line – I hope. Someone told me they’d read my novel The Inheritance, which I published a few weeks ago, and enjoyed it but said it took a while to get going and they thought it needed to grip the reader from the beginning.

It’s funny cos I’d read the same advice in a general post on a writer’s blog (can’t remember which one), that you need to grab the reader’s attention from the very beginning.  Then I had a flash of inspiration as to how I could make the beginning of Reunion much more gripping.

So here’s my attempt. This is the new beginning of Reunion. Anna and her boyfriend Elliot are having a blazing row. She suspects him of cheating on her. If you recognise any of the dialogue, that’s because I’ve recycled it from a flashback Anna has later in the story and it was what I shared in the WIPpet Wednesday post I just can’t find.

As always, comments are welcome – though I guess getting feedback is the whole reason we do WIPpet Wednesday, isn’t it? Anyway here’s 13 paragraphs from chapter one as it’s 2013. Enjoy!

Anna glared at Elliot standing across the table from her, willing him to be struck down by a celestial power or something, anything to punish him for what he’d done.

‘I’ve had enough of your excuses,’ she yelled at him. ‘I know the truth and I don’t want to hear any more lies.’

‘Which idiot have you been listening to, Anna?’ he replied equally loudly as they fought it out in the kitchen, perilously close to the knives which Anna was tempted to throw at him.

‘Oh I don’t know, about a dozen? Maybe two dozen? Did you really think I’d never find out? Who is she anyway, this model? No wait; don’t tell me, she’s some bimbo who’s conveniently only in it for the sex!’

‘Look I told you, Anna, I’m not having an affair! You’ve got to trust me.’

‘Not having an affair. Hmmm. That’s what you said three months ago when I first told you what people had been saying. And I stupidly chose to believe you. But since then more and more people, friends and acquaintances, have been telling me what you’ve been getting up to on those “research” trips to London.’

‘They’re wrong, Anna, they’re wrong. Why would I ever want sex with Petra… ’ Elliot trailed off realising his mistake.

‘Oh so that’s her name is it? I’ll take that as a confession, shall I? It’s obviously all I’m going to get after three years. Three years of my life wasted!’ The tears that had been threatening to pour began to run down Anna’s face. She sobbed a harsh strangulated sound and through the haze of tears saw Elliot coming towards her. ‘No!’ she yelled at him. ‘Don’t touch me! Just get out! I don’t need to hear any more excuses.’

He backed off and turned to leave the kitchen.

‘I want you out by tonight,’ Anna heard herself say in a shaky voice. ‘And all your stuff.’

‘Where am I supposed to go?’ he asked turning round. ‘You could at least give me a day to get my stuff out.’

‘I don’t care where you go. And as for giving you a day to sort your stuff out, why should I after the way you’ve treated me? Now get out!’

He scowled at her as he left the room, and for the first time Anna felt as though she were seeing the true Elliot. The person she thought she’d known had been almost like a figment of her imagination.

If you would like to take part in WIPpet Wednesday, simply share an excerpt from whatever you’re up to writing-wise and post on your blog. The only rule is it has to correlate to the date.  Then add your name to this linky.  Thanks to the lovely K. L. Schwengel for hosting.