Tag: KL Schwengel

Return to WIPpet Wednesday

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 21 Comments

Hi all.  No, I’m not dead.  I’m back!  I started a job, then quit it.  You can read about that here.  But anyway, I’m here once again for WIPpet Wednesday which I’m really pleased about.

I’ve done something different for this week’s WIPpet.  Seeing as I haven’t done any proper writing for absolutely AGES, I thought I’d do what a couple of my beta readers of Reunion of the Heart suggested, and write an interview with one of my characters.

They felt if I did it would give me a greater insight into her personality and make her a bit more… 3D!

She’s a lesser character in the story, but still important.  When my MC Anna was at school with her, she felt betrayed by Rachel when Rachel decided to side with their mutual friend Lizzie in an issue concerning a boy.  I should say that this WIPpet doesn’t have anything to do with today’s date and it’s quite long.  I’m grateful to you all for taking a look. 🙂  Here it is:

Me:  Hi Rachel.  Thanks for agreeing to this interview.  It’s great to finally meet you.  I wasn’t even sure what you looked like, not having a photo of you.

Rachel:  Thank you.  I must say I was looking forward to meeting you too.  Anna has told me a great deal about you.  She says it’s thanks to you that she’s happy in her life.  The way you directed things… well she says you’re just the best author of her story she could have hoped for.

Me: Aw thank you, that’s sweet.  Anyway, I haven’t got long for this interview as I’ve got another appointment soon, so we’d better crack on.  I’m just gonna cut to the chase:  Why exactly did you side with Lizzie at school when Anna was having such a hard time?

R: (taken aback) That’s a bit below the belt don’t you think?  And didn’t you explain my motivations in the story? (folds her arms indignantly)

Me: Not entirely no.  I just wrote that you told Anna and Melissa you’d been friends with Lizzie for a lot longer than with them and so you wanted to be loyal to Lizzie.

R: (closes eyes and leans back in chair) Isn’t that enough information for you?

Me: Look, I just want to hear your side of the story properly.  I want to understand you better as a person.  You are an important character to me after all.

R: (opens eyes, leans forward, nods) OK.  But it’s complicated.  (sighs)  I didn’t join Mayfield Secondary until I was 13.

Me:  Really?  I didn’t know that.

R:  I’m not sure Anna and Melissa know.  I can’t remember if I told them.  It was a long time ago, so they may never have found out.  The reason I moved school is because I was being bullied at my old school.  I had a hellish time – I was so miserable I ended up being suicidal.  The one person who stopped me from topping myself was Lizzie.  I’d known her for years.  We’d been friends since primary.  But then when I went to secondary, I managed to get a scholarship to a school called Grove Grammar.  Lizzie went to Mayfield so we ended up seeing each other only at the weekends.

Me: That must have been a tough time for you.

R: Tell me about it.  Like I said, it made me want to end it all.  And I was only 13.  So anyway, when my parents sent me to Mayfield, things began to get better for me.  People were friendly, and of course I got to hang out with Lizzie again.  I began to feel like a normal person.  (pauses) It’s such a shame that Matt and Will were so cruel to Anna.  They really singled her out for harsh treatment; I’m not sure why.

Me: Maybe they were trying to get her attention?  Perhaps they liked her?

R: (smiles wryly) You’re the author, you should know.

Me: True, but I’d like to hear what you think.

R: I honestly don’t know.  If they did like her, they had a funny way of showing it.  Anyway, I thrived at Mayfield.  I got good grades in the exams; I got on well with everyone.  Getting to know Anna and Melissa was like the icing on the cake.  And then it went sour.  Lizzie fell for Matt, I’m not sure why, and it put the kibosh on our friendship with Anna and Melissa.

Me: So why exactly did you side with Lizzie?

R: (annoyed) You’re really pushing this, aren’t you?  Like I said, Lizzie had been very good to me.  She was my best friend and she’d stuck by me my whole life.  I wasn’t about to give up that friendship in a hurry. (pauses) Having said that, I do regret my decision.  Anna was my friend too and she was going through hell.  I should have been there for her. (clears throat) And there was another factor.

Me: What?

R: I didn’t have enough confidence in myself to do the right thing.  I was a coward, so I sided with Lizzie and let go of my friendship with Anna and Melissa.  I’ll always regret that.

Me: I think you’re being a bit hard on yourself.  School is a hard time for everyone.  You’re friends with Anna and Melissa again.  Anna’s forgiven you, hasn’t she?  So maybe it’s time to forgive yourself for what happened.

R: (stares at the table, twisting the ring on her finger and nods) You’re right.  (looks up) What else would you like to know about me?

Me: Just what your life is like now, if you’re happy?

R: (nods) Yes, I’m very happy.  I have a new boyfriend called Oz and he’s fantastic.  I see Lizzie, Anna and Melissa all the time.  We’re going to go to Rome together in the New Year.  I’m really looking forward to that.  Things are great.

Me: Oh, I’m so pleased to hear that.  That’s such good news.  Well I think we’d end it there.  I mustn’t be late for my dentist’s appointment.

R: Dentist’s appointment?  Poor you, sounds bad.

Me: (shrugs) Should be fine.  Anyway, hope to see you again soon.

R: Yes, I hope so too.

As always I’m grateful for your comments.  If you would like to take part in the Wonderful World of WIPpet Wednesday, all you have to do is post some of your writing on your blog.  Really it should relate in some way to today’s date –  I cheated in that respect!

Once you’ve done that, post your link here.  Thanks once again to K. L. Schwengel for hosting. 😀

 

 

I’m back!

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 18 Comments

I'm back

Well it’s been a couple of weeks since my last WIPpet Wednesday. I hope you’re all OK. My work experience at Bristol City Council has begun. It’s going well and I’m really enjoying it.

Also on Monday I had an interview for a paid job. I’m waiting to hear back from them to tell me if I’ve got it or not. I have to say I think I fluffed the task they set for me at the beginning as maths is not my strong point and one of the tasks I had to do involved a maths calculation.

Anyway we’ll see what happens with that one and I’ll let you know how I get on. Back to the main event. For this week’s WIPpet I thought I’d do something different and share with you an excerpt of a fantasy story for children I was writing a few years ago and never finished.

Confession: technically I haven’t written any more of this since 2011 so shoot me now if I’m breaking the rules!  (But maybe you could read my excerpt first. 😉 )

To set the scene Stephanie and Thomas are staying at their dad’s house.  Their parents are divorced and they see their dad every weekend.  But while they’re staying there something strange happens.  Cue 9 paragraphs for the 9th April:

Thomas opened his notebook and began to write.  He and Stephanie were stunned at what happened next.   Instead of Thomas’s messy handwriting appearing on the paper, a beautiful script emerged from the pen.  It was as if the pen was writing by itself.  The two children were mesmerised by what they saw.  Then something strange happened. 

As Stephanie watched the writing appearing on the paper, everything around them began to change.  Their surroundings went blurry and Stephanie felt as though she were spinning.  She tried to speak but no sound came from her mouth and she couldn’t see Thomas although she could feel his hand in hers.  Frightened, she screamed but again there was no sound.  But it didn’t last long.  All at once the blurriness disappeared and Stephanie saw Thomas standing next to her looking dizzy.  Then as their surroundings came into focus, Stephanie realised with a shock that they weren’t in Thomas’s bedroom anymore.  Her mouth hung open in amazement.

‘Where are we?’ she said.

‘I don’t know but we’re not at Dad’s anymore.’

They were standing on lush green grass, greener than anything they’d seen before.  They were in a beautiful meadow, covered with tiny flowers of many colours, some pink, purple and yellow.  The flowers seemed to be giving off light, Stephanie noticed, almost like mini suns.  But unlike the sun, it didn’t hurt her eyes to look at them; in fact she felt soothed by them and less fearful. 

They could hear the sound of bumble bees droning around them and Stephanie saw some settling down on the flowers to collect the pollen.  In the distance they could see enormous mountains which had snow on the top of them.  But before they had any more time to look at their new surroundings, there was a sudden huge explosion like a bomb going off near where they were standing.  Stephanie jumped and clutched at her brother’s arm.  She hated loud sudden noises.

‘I want to go home,’ she said in a small voice and began to cry.  She was even more worried when there was the unmistakable tramp of feet.

‘Come on, Steph, we’ve got to hide,’ Thomas said urgently, pulling her away from the sound of marching and across the meadow.  But it was huge and there was nowhere to hide.  The marching was getting closer.  Thomas propelled her towards the longer bits of meadow grass.

‘Lie down quickly,’ he commanded her.  She did as he said and they both lay quivering with fear in the tall grass.  The children heard the sound of footsteps approaching.  Then they stopped.  Stephanie knew they’d been discovered. 

As always you too can take part in WIPpet Wednesday.  Just post something writing-related on your blog, making sure it relates in some way to the date.  Then add your name here.

Thanks to K. L. Schwengel for hosting. 🙂

WIPpet Tuesday??!!

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 26 Comments

Yes, yes, yes – I know I’m getting earlier and earlier with my WIPpet Wednesday posts.  And technically it’s still very much Tuesday here in the not-so-sunny 😦 UK.

But I’ve got a good excuse – I’ve got an early start (for me anyway) for work tomorrow and I tend to find if I don’t post my contribution to the wonderful WIPpetness of Wednesday early, I end up posting them late.  And not to put too fine a point on it, I get knackered.  I like to be able to take my time in reading all your wonderful excerpts too.

That’s it.  That’s all the justifying of myself I’m going to do!  Back to my WIPpet post.  For what will be this Wednesday, the 26th March, I offer you 23 words from my new WIP.  My WIPpet maths goes like this: 26 – 3= 23.  I started writing it on the 8th March and I’ve done well over 4000 words so I’m happy! 😀

I guess many of you can manage a whole lot more than that in that space of time, but it’s a lot for me! BTW the ‘she’ in question is my MC Rebecca and she’s part way through her first day as a teacher at a secondary school (for 11-16 year olds).  So here’s my snippet:

Feeling a need to freshen up, she headed for the nearest staff ladies.  When she reached it she found two other women there.

There.  I’m being stingy with the amount I’m sharing, but I haven’t written much so I don’t want to share too much at this stage.

If you’ve taken a look at what us WIPpeteers are sharing and would like to get involved, just post on your blog anything you’ve written lately.  Make sure it relates in some way to the date.  Then add your name here.

Thank you K. L. Schwengel for hosting. 🙂

Wow what a wonderful WIPpet Wednesday!

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 27 Comments

Hey everyone.  How’s your week been?  Mine’s been pretty good.  Lots of possibilities job-wise opening up for me.  Gonna apply for another admin job with a little charity here in Bristol (UK).

Anyway on with the task at hand: my contribution to this week’s WIPpet Wednesday.  Seeing as it’s the 19th March, I thought I’d share with you another 19 sentences from my new, as yet untitled WIP.  The lines follow directly on from last week’s  WIPpet.

Rebecca, my MC, is having an unpleasant encounter with a man in an Audi who nearly knocked her off her bike…

It wouldn’t do for the pupils of Radcliffe High School to see their newest teacher let rip at a man who was presumably a parent of a pupil at the school.  Or – God forbid – a member of staff.

But it was the Audi driver who lost his control.  ‘This is my fault?’ he snapped.  ‘You came at me out of nowhere.  One second you weren’t there, the next I have to slam on the brakes because a hapless cyclist has acquired a death wish.  And don’t you dare tell me that I wasn’t paying attention.  I have been driving for twenty years and I have never had an accident.  So before you go reporting this incident to your superiors I’d make sure that you get your facts straight.’

Without waiting for a reply he wound the window up and Rebecca only had a moment to grab her bike before the Audi roared off.  Shaken she slowly removed her helmet, the rain settling on her long, black hair which she’d coaxed into a practical chignon that morning.  Her legs were wobbly so rather than hop back on her bike, she pushed it to the nearby bike shed and locked it with shaking fingers.

‘Are you OK, miss?’ a voice asked.

Starting a little at the unexpected words, Rebecca looked up.  A girl of about fourteen was standing there.  She was slight, yet tall and had long unruly-looking dirty blonde hair.  She also seemed a little awkward.  Rebecca felt the need to put her at ease.

‘Yes, I’m fine thank you.’ 

Anyone can join in WIPpet Wednesday, just share some of your writing and make sure it relates in some way to the date.  Then hop on over and add your name to this linky.  Thanks to the wonderful WIPpet wizard K. L. Schwengel for hosting.

A new start

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 31 Comments

Hello everyone and welcome to my contribution to this week’s WIPpet Wednesday, hosted by the lovely K. L. Schwengel whose cover for her new novel Emergence I revealed on this blog yesterday.

Well I have an announcement.  Cue fanfare… I’ve finished the first round of edits of Reunion of the Heart and it’s going out to beta readers very soon.  Much love to them!!  But really the fanfare is about my BRAND NEW WIP I began at the weekend.  It’s another romance (no you can never have too many romances!  OK you can if it’s not your thing but it is mine – though BTW I don’t actually read romances all the time!).

Anyway my new WIP is currently untitled.  I haven’t a clue what to call it yet but I’m sure I’ll come up with something eventually. My MC Rebecca is a teacher in a secondary school in the UK.  For those of you who don’t what I mean by a secondary school, it’s for kids aged 11-16, so I’m guessing for you in the US it would kind of be junior high and a bit of high school mixed in together.

I’ve probably got that completely wrong – I find the US system of schooling and all your grades for the year groups really confusing – but you get the idea!

So for today’s WIPpet, I thought I’d share with you the opening 12 lines from chapter 1.  Enjoy!

The tyres of her bike screeched to a halt, skidding on the wet tarmac and narrowly avoiding the bonnet of the car which had also stopped.  Rebecca leapt off her bike, stalked over to the large Audi and hammered on the driver’s darkened window.

‘What do you think you’re playing at?’ she yelled, oblivious to the stares and sniggers of the surrounding children.

Slowly, deliberately the window was wound down.  A middle aged man was sitting at the wheel.  Dark and austere, he glanced at Rebecca as though she wasn’t worth his notice.

‘I think it’s more a question of what you’re doing,’ he said.  His voice was calm and controlled yet simmering with anger.

‘What I’m doing?’ Rebecca spluttered.  Then remembering where she was she paused and took a deep breath.  ‘I was looking where I was going and I’m lucky I did because if I hadn’t I would most likely be severely injured or dead.’

Aware that she had an audience, she did her best to regain her composure.  

If WIPpet Wednesday seems like the kind of thing you’d enjoy and you want to get involved, just post a bit of your newest writing work on your blog, making sure it relates in some way to the date.  Then add your name to this. Thank you K. L. Schwengel for hosting. 🙂

Emergence by K. L. Schwengel – Cover Reveal!

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 3 Comments

coverreveal

I’m pleased to have the privilege of doing a cover reveal from one of my favourite fantasy authors, the lovely K. L. Schwengel.  First of Her Kind, the first book in the Darkness and Light series can be found at Amazon.com and Amazon UK.  Emergence is the second book in the series, and continues the story of Ciara, a young woman who in the first book was gradually learning about the forceful magical powers she possesses and how she could control them…

Emergence ~ Book Two of the Darkness & Light Series

The battle for Ciara’s power has drawn the full attention of the Emperor and the Imperial Mages, forcing Bolin to put duty above safety and take her to Nisair. It won’t be an easy trip, even with an Imperial escort and a Galysian elder accompanying them. Especially since Donovan has found himself some new allies, one of whom wields a dark magic that has literally gotten under Bolin’s skin.

For Ciara, coming to terms with the increasingly tangible manifestation of her power could destroy her. Even if they make it to Nisair–something that grows more unlikely by the day–there is no surety of safety for Ciara, or any of them. Not with Donovan willing to gamble everything to achieve his goals, or Bolin’s uncharacteristically reckless behavior, the result of which is the attention of something that has everyone worried.

Loyalties will be tested, lives will be lost, and no one will emerge unchanged as they find things are not always so clear on the line dividing Darkness and Light.

About the author:

K. L. Schwengel lives in southeast Wisconsin on a small farm with her husband, a handful of Australian Shepherds, Her Royal Highness Princess Fiona the Cat, and assorted livestock. Growing up as the youngest of nine children, and the daughter of a librarian, Kathi spent many hours between stacks of books, and secluded away in dusty archives, drawn to tales of medieval heroes and conquering knights. With so many characters and ideas spinning in her head, she had to get them onto paper or risk what little sanity she possessed.

She has been penning wild tales of magic and mayhem as long as she can remember, but opted to follow her artistic muse first. After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts and spending many years working as a freelance artist, grocery clerk, art teacher, graphic designer, stable hand, advertising account coordinator, dog trainer, and process technician (among other things) she answered the call of her writing muse. When not writing, Kathi trains and trials working Australian Shepherds, still paints, dabbles in photography, graphic design, and anything else creative her assorted muses send her way.

Kathi’s work is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and other on-line retailers in both paperback and e-book versions. Signed copies are available via her blog.

mequinnHow to connect:

Blog: http://myrandommuse.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KLSchwengelWrites

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/kathils01/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KLSchwengel

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6871795.K_L_Schwengel

 

A confrontation

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 22 Comments

Of sorts.  You might not agree that it’s a confrontation, but it sort of describes this week’s excerpt for WIPpet Wednesday quite well. I hope you’re all well BTW.

Last week I mentioned that I had an interview for a work placement.  Well… I GOT IT!!  So I’m really happy about that as you can imagine.  And thank you all for your kind words, it meant a lot to me.  It doesn’t start till the 2nd April though so I’ve got a while to get ready for it. 🙂

So back to today’s topic.  I’m sharing with you 26 sentences from chapter 14 of Reunion of the Heart.  (I’ll leave you to figure out how it relates to the date!!)  Anyway at this point Anna has just arrived home from dropping boyfriend Peter at the station.  I shared some lines immediately prior to this here.  Now she’s got an unwelcome surprise…

‘Anna?  Are you all right?’

The voice stunned her especially when she realised whose it was.  She felt herself flinch.  This was all she needed.  She stood up straight, turning to face him.

‘Yes thank you, Will,’ she replied stiffly.  ‘I’m just going inside, so if you’ll excuse me…’

He nodded and turned to walk on.  But she didn’t go inside.  In spite of her fear that he might be stalking her, curiosity got the better of her. 

‘Will, wait.’ He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, his expression unreadable. ‘I… how long have you been living in Primrose Gardens?’  Her voice sounded hostile which was not her intent.  But he seemed unfazed.

‘A couple of years.’

‘A couple of years?’ Anna couldn’t keep the surprise or volume from her reply.

‘Yes.’ He looked as though he was suppressing a smile.  ‘I didn’t know you were living here though, or I would have popped over and said hello.’

‘But you hate me!’ she cried unable to stop herself.  ‘And I hate you.  You made my life a misery when we were at school.  How could I ever forgive you for that?’ 

If you’re not currently taking part in the wonder that is WIPpet Wednesday and you’d like to, all you have to do is post some of your current writing work on your blog which relates in some way to the date.  Then add your details to this.

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

A short WIPpet for Wednesday

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 23 Comments

Hi all.  My contribution to this week’s WIPpet Wednesday is going to be short as I’m currently in the middle of preparing for an interview for a work placement tomorrow.

So I’m back to my old mean self and I’m only sharing with you 2 sentences from chapter 2 of my current WIP Reunion of the Heart. We’re going back and forth in the novel; here Anna has just arrived at her old school for the reunion:

Anna stumbled a little as she walked; she didn’t wear heels very often.  As they approached the school buildings, memories of being a pupil here flooded back to her.

So that’s it for me for this week.  Hopefully I’ll be able to share something longer next week.  And if you would like to take part in WIPpet Wednesday, just post on your blog a piece of your writing relating in some way to the date.  Then add your details here.

Thank you K. L. Schwengel for hosting. 🙂

Flashback

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 34 Comments

Welcome to a very wet and windy WIPpet Wednesday.  Well it is here in the UK anyway! 😦  Or at least the sun is shining now but it’s been horrible all day until now.  Anyway for this week’s WIPpet Wednesday I thought I’d share with you one of the many  flashbacks that my MC Anna has in Reunion of the Heart.  For the 12th February I’m sharing 12 lines from chapter 2.

In the present, Anna is at her school reunion and she and best friend Melissa have just been reunited with their school friends Lizzie and Rachel who they haven’t seen since school.

In this excerpt, in the flashback, you can catch a glimpse of why they fell out at school and hadn’t made up until now, many years later. I’m not going to say too much more than that.  So without further ado, here’s my contribution to this week’s WIPpet Wednesday:

‘What the hell do you think you’re playing at?’ Melissa had demanded of Lizzie, marching up to where she was sitting eating her lunch at the edge of the school playing fields and tapping her on the shoulder.  Anna was trailing in her wake.

‘I’m sorry, but when did you become the boss of my life?’ Lizzie had replied.  ‘Oh yeah, that’s right, you’re not!’

‘You know what Matt’s like, you know he’s a nasty bastard who’s given our friend hell and yet you still choose to start seeing him.’

‘It’s my life; I can do what I want!’  Lizzie retorted.  ‘And anyway, when are you ever going to let Anna speak for herself?  There she is, cowering behind you…’

‘I’m not cowering,’ Anna said in a quiet voice.  ‘But Melissa’s right, I do have a problem with you dating Matt.  He’s made my life miserable for five years of secondary school.’ 

And if you aren’t taking part but would like to, just post on your blog whatever you’re working on with your writing and add it here, where all the other wonderful WIPpets for this week can be found too.

Thanks goes to the most gracious hostess of them all K. L. Schwengel.

Meeting her new agent

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 18 Comments

Hello and welcome to my contribution to this week’s WIPpet Wednesday.

Thank you so much to all of you who gave me suggestions for the title of my novel.  In case you didn’t catch my earlier post, some weeks ago I did an Amazon search for Reunion just to double check that there wasn’t too similar a book with the same title. Unfortunately there was so I needed to come up with another title.

I was  stumped but Xina Marie Uhl and Kate Frost separately came up with the title Reunion of the Heart.  I really like it.  Seeing as it’s a romance I think it’s a great title as I want to ground it in the romance genre if that makes sense.  I needed a title that people who were wanting to read in that genre would be able to find and recognise it as being a romance.

So a big thank you to Xina Marie and Kate!

Back to the main event.  Continuing my spate of generosity in terms of length of excerpts I share, here’s two paragraphs from chapter five of my novel for the 5th February.  I’m hopping about a bit with my excerpts.  This one is a bit further on from last week’s.  My MC Anna, who’s an author, has just walked in to her new agent’s office.

She glanced surreptitiously around her.  It was the same office his predecessor Geoffrey had used but it was a lot different now.  It looked a little as though World War Three had hit it.  There were half emptied boxes on the floor with their contents spewing out.  The books on the shelves which lined three walls of the room were arranged haphazardly, some standing vertically, others lying horizontally in piles waiting to be arranged properly. And Peter’s desk.  That was a work of art in itself – a work in disorderliness.  Anna couldn’t even see the desk through all of the papers and books that covered it.  She smothered a smile as he rooted around his desk trying to find something.

‘Ah ha.  Here we are,’ he said brandishing the piece of paper in his hand like a sword.  ‘Before we start I should reassure you that I’ve read all your books and thoroughly enjoyed them.’  Anna felt her face flush with pleasure.  Peter went on, ‘These are some of the notes that Geoffrey gave me which relate to you and to how things are with your work.  But in all honesty, I’d rather hear from you.  What stage are you at with your current work in progress?’

Hope you enjoyed that. 🙂 If you don’t already take part in WIPpet Wednesday and would like to, simply post on your blog an excerpt of whatever you’ve written lately which relates to the date.  Then add your details here.

Thank you K. L. Schwengel for hosting.