Tag: WIPpet Wednesday

What’s going on in my world right now

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 4 Comments

world

I know I’ve been absent from my blog for a while. Well actually from my writing my novel a bit too. I didn’t even take part in WIPpet Wednesday this week.

The reason is that I’m preoccupied with work matters. May sound boring, actually quite exciting. Today was my first morning of my work experience with Bristol City Council (here in the-sometimes-sunny UK!).

It went really well, but I was very nervous last night and apprehensive, not to say completely knackered, which is why I didn’t take part in WIPpet Wednesday.  The people I’m going to be working with were really friendly though, and welcoming which was great.  I think the work is going to be good and I’m excited about it.

Just to confuse you, I found out today that I’ve got an interview for a part time paid job (the work experience is unpaid).  So I feel like I’m in a win win situation – if I get the paid job that’s fantastic, if not I’ve still got the work experience to be doing.

In the first paragraph of this post I mentioned that I’d been absent from my writing.  I can explain!  I’ve done well over 4000 words on my new WIP.  But although I know where I want it to go at the end, as well as some of the action that takes place in the middle, I wasn’t sure how to carry on from where I’d initially got to.

So I’ve gone back to the drawing board so to speak.  I’m fleshing out scenes that could take place between my MC and my other characters immediately after where I’ve got up to on the computer.  This is going well but taking a while, so I’ve been away from my lovely pink laptop for a while and curled up on the sofa scribbling away in my notebook.

Phew!  So now you’re pretty much up to date with where I’m at.  I hope to be doing more proper writing soon and taking part in WIPpet Wednesday again next week – lack of tiredness permitting!

Happy Writing Everyone! 😀

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. 🙂

Relaxing at the spa

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 32 Comments

Hi everyone.  Hope you’ve had a good week.  I certainly have.  Spring is in the air and to coin an American phrase I’m feeling mighty fine!

For today’s WIPpet Wednesday I thought I’d share with you 5 lines from chapter 3 of Reunion of the Heart for the 5th of March. We’re going backwards in the story from last week’s excerpt to the weekend away at the spa that my MC Anna goes on with her three friends, two of whom she’s been reunited with at the reunion.

Anna and her best friend Melissa are relaxing as they experience one of the many treatments on offer…

‘Oh this is bliss,’ Anna murmured as the masseuse kneaded her back.  She could feel the tension inside her unwind as if she’d been coiled tightly like a spring. For the first time in ages her thoughts were Elliot-free.  Letting go had never been this easy before.

‘Mmm you’re right,’ Melissa said. 

So it’s short but sweet.  Boy do I envy Anna and Melissa.  I really fancy a nice massage right now. Anyway that’s it for this week.  I may be kind and share with you something longer next week.

If you fancy taking part in WIPpet Wednesday all you have to do is share some of your writing, making sure that it relates in some way to the date.  Then add your details here.

Thank you very much K. L. Schwengel for hosting.  We love youuuu!!

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.

Something for WIPpet Wednesday

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 22 Comments

Wednesday

Is it just me or does WIPpet Wednesday come around faster and faster? Lol. Anyway I’m being kind again this week.  I’m sharing a whole 30 lines from chapter 4 of my current WIP, which is tentatively titled Reunion, though I’m working to change it.  One idea I had was ‘Reunion’s Meeting’.  Any thoughts?

OK, on with the main event.  I would have shared 29 lines (for the 29th January) but the excerpt makes more sense with the extra line.  This week’s WIPpet takes place a while before last week’s just to confuse you.  Anna is out jogging when she sees someone she’d much rather not…

Feeling unnerved she turned around.  When she saw who it was she had an unpleasant surprise. 

‘Will!  What on earth are you doing here?’ she demanded before she could help herself, pulling out her earphones.  She’d barely looked him in the eye at the reunion; now she saw him as if for the first time.  He was tall, taller than she remembered, with dark eyes and short hair that curled gently around his temples.  He would have been attractive, but his expression was conceited and smug.

‘I live here,’ he said in a matter-of-fact tone.  ‘Well not here in this park,’ he added jokily, seeming to register her dumb-struck face.

‘You mean you live here, in Warston?’ Anna was unable to hide her incredulity.  This was all she needed.

‘Yes, as I just said.’  He had an odd expression on his face, somewhere between a self-satisfied smile and a genuinely interested look.  ‘Warston is a big city, Anna,’ he went on.  ‘It’s not that surprising that we’ve never bumped into each other before.’

‘No thank goodness we never have,’ Anna blurted out unable to stop herself.  She knew she shouldn’t be rude, but this was Will.  After the way he’d treated her he didn’t deserve to be spoken to politely.

‘Well it’s nice to know that I’m still in your good books.’

Anna was surprised that underneath his sarcastic tone he sounded hurt.  But she mentally shrugged off this thought.  Will had put her through hell during her school years and the scars were still there.  His hurt feelings weren’t worth worrying about.

‘Well I didn’t expect to see you here,’ she said, hearing her voice sound abrupt and cold. ‘But I doubt we’ll meet again.  Like you say, Warston’s a big city.’ She turned to jog back down the hill.

‘Good luck then.  You must have a lot of work to do on your novel.  See you around.’

WIPpet Wednesday is open to anyone who has a piece of writing they’d like to share.  If you want to join in, just post a bit of your writing that relates in some way to the date.  Then add your name here.  Thanks goes to K. L. Schwengel for hosting. 🙂

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! 🙂