The first draft of my short story "Four Week 'til Christmas" is DONE! I've sent it over to my friend Sam for her feedback and more than likely, a ton of edits. I am horrible with grammar, but am hoping she doesn't find too many mistakes. Sam is also going to craft a beautiful cover for me, which I will reveal here.
Anyway, I still have to work on an official blurb, but I wanted to share a snippet with you. This is how our couple met...
By six a.m. Noelle was beginning to fall apart. Her feet hurt, her eyes stung and her holiday cheer had walked out the back door. She only had two more hours to go and she picked up another cup of coffee to boost her energy. When she heard her name called over the loud speaker, she bolted out of the break room with her cup of coffee and barreled in to a wall. A human wall.
“Shit.”
“Oh my gosh. I am so sorry.” Embarrassment and exhaustion took over and as she stared at the huge brown spot on the white shirt in front of her, tears began to slide down her cheeks.
“Hey. Don’t worry, it’s okay.” A deep voice vibrated through her.
“I just…it’s…sorry.” Noelle glanced up at the victim of her clumsiness and gasped. The man, whom she had just spilled her coffee all over his white shirt, was beautiful. He was probably over six feet tall, though with his head ducked down to look at her, she couldn’t be sure. His dark blue eyes were fixed on her face. He was frowning, but whether it be out of concern or annoyance, she wasn’t sure.
Noelle hadn’t noticed the strong hands that held her up until now. Warmth flooded through her and for the first time, in a long time, she felt safe. Noelle glanced down at the large hands that gently hold her forearms and the man suddenly let her go, leaving her feeling suddenly bereft. She wondered what it would be like to feel those gentle hands on other places of her body. How it would feel to tuck herself in to those strong arms. She sniffed, wiping her hand over her eyes, and an intoxicating scent drifted to her nose, assaulting her senses.
“Sir. Please forgive me. It’s been a long night. If you send me the cleaning bill I will reimburse you.”
“What?” Oh he was well over six foot and build like a linebacker. His face was scrunched with confusion. Then, a smile crept on his face as a light flickered in those beautiful eyes.
“Don’t worry about the shirt sweets. I have plenty more.”
Noelle would normally bristle at the endearment, but something about the gentleness in his voice comforted her, instead. To make matters worse, the warmth that had flowed through her body was now displayed by the blush in her cheeks. Which, he was gazing at, that moment.
“I am so sorry. I have to go.” She turned to head back to the break room.
So, anyway, that is how Noelle and Zane met. I hope that this love story will touch my readers. It grabbed me and forced me to write it. I couldn't sleep without the storyline ringing through my head. Every time I had five minutes, I was at the laptop typing. I didn't even close the document because I couldn't waste a moment waiting for it to re-open. So, I left it open after each session of 'type and save'. I hope to have the finished product up on Kindle by Thanskgiving.
It has been SUPER exciting to get back to writing. Back to story-telling. Back to romance. =) I think what broke through my block was sitting down and writing a few pages in a notebook each day. After two days, I w as back to typing. I had another story that I was working on, just a few days ago. Then, as I was bombarded with Christmas commercials, Noelle's story came to mind. I was off to the laptop and within two days had typed out almost 16k on a story that had a 15k goal. AND, depending on what my friend Sam thinks, I may add an Epilogue too.
A huge THANK YOU to Samantha Holt, my friend and greatest supporter. Thank you to my hubby and kids who put up with me running to the laptop throughout the weekend. Thank you to all my readers. I love every one of you.
xx MUAH xx
~J~
