WIP Challenge Day 8: Share a Short Snippet.

Happy Sunday everyone. Hope you all have had a fun and relaxing weekend. Today as part of the WIP Challenge, I get to share an excerpt from what I have been working on and recently finished the rough draft of. This is from the first chapter of the third book in The Edge of Springwood series, titled Dark Connections which I hope will be released some time next year.

Jocelyn Barnes sat patiently waiting in the examining room of Dr. Grave’s office with her hands clasped together…wishing she could have done more for herself over the past few weeks. She’d been involved in two fires over the holidays, one that had caused her some amnesia, but unfortunately Tammy, her alter personality had been active. Now, her brother’s store was a total loss, and from what she was being told, her half brother was now recovering from severe burns over much of his body in ICU.

She had finally come around, only for Leo Blake, better known as Toby Matthews, to give her roofies, so he could attempt to kill her…much like Tammy had tried to kill Jocelyn's best friend, Becky.

Tears came to her eyes as she thought of her best friend. She had been one constant through all this chaos that had developed over the span of the past few months. Longtime friends since their school days, Becky had probably been the first person close to her to realize she had an alter-personality years before. Aside from her brother Justin, who had gone to prison to protect her, when Tammy dressed as him in a bar full of drunks assaulted Scott Adams, her ex and accused rapist. All of it led up to what occurred last Fall, during her brother's campaign when she was kidnapped by her biological father. Tammy was lured out to introduce herself to the world via Jacob's hacked website.

Jocelyn laughed to herself, shaking her head. It was really hard to wish you could do more for yourself, let alone actually do it when you had an alter-personality living half your life for you. As if to remind herself of that fact, she took her hands through her newly shortened light brown hair, which now came just past her ears and had a single gray barrette in the side of it.

That was when Dr. Graves entered the room, with a warm smile.

“Hello Jocelyn. Good to see you.”

She grimaced a little, and managed a nod back, as the doctor put a hand to his head. “Ohhh. You go by Lyn. Sorry about that. I remember the nurse made a note of that last time you were here.”

She just shrugged. “It's fine Dr. Graves. I would have honestly been more upset if you called me Tammy.”

WIP Challenge Day 7: Share a favorite quote of paragraph from your book.

The quote I am sharing today, is from a paragraph of Jocelyn's journal after she is admitted to Springwood Memorial's psych ward. This is from Twisted Revenge, the first in The Edge of Springwood series, due out in November from Nevermore Press.

It’s hard to imagine a whole other personality in my mind. It would explain my black outs over the years, but it’s still frightening none the less. No, not frightening. TERRIFYING.

WIP Challenge Day 6: What is the book's genre? What draws you to this genre?

Growing up I became hooked on mysteries. First, it was the Hollister series, then I moved on to Nancy Drew. Not long after that Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine became my favorites. I even read the Babysitter's Club. Anything fun and interesting grabbed my attention.
Later on, my tastes changed as I changed. But one thing has remained constant in all these years. I love a good mystery, with cool twists you never see coming. A simple murder mystery to me is boring. Throw in the fact the murderer turns up missing for several years, then the suspect's lookalike reappears with no memory and you have me hooked.
Both of my series are suspense. The Edge of Springwood is considered psychological suspense for obvious reasons.
Why do I write suspense?

It keeps me calm. Happy. And riveted, whether I am writing or reading it. It keeps you guessing, on the edge of your seat then at the end, really great suspense surprises you with twists you never see coming. It's what I strive to do in my writing, and when I get a compliment from an editor or reader, like the one below I know I am doing something right. And it's the most incredible feeling ever.

I love to be engrossed in a story then shocked silly. I also love different and unique storylines, not seeing the same old storyline used constantly. I like putting a new spin on things. Or using an aspect that is not used too much. D.I.D.,  the condition Jocelyn suffers from in The Edge of Springwood has been used by a few authors including Mary Higgins Clark. But what makes it unique is the fact it is a series, and there's so much for the Barnes yet to learn about their younger sister's alter personality, including how the alter even came along to begin with. Tammy, Jocelyn's alter hints at things throughout the book, leaving just enough for the reader to guess at what she is up to, but still leave you in the dark. In Twisted Revenge, due out in November the reader even gets to read some of Jocelyn's journal entries while she is in the mental ward at Springwood Memorial.
It's like getting two different versions of the same storyline, but still not getting enough detail to make you want to stop reading the book. All the dialogue, both spoken and thought lead you up to an end you never saw coming.
No other genre has managed to grab me like suspense has. Occasionally I will find a hint of suspense in a book I never expected. (Like 50 Shades of Grey) But the mystery, edge and shocking twists are what will always draw me to write suspense.

WIP Challenge Day 5: Which character do you dislike and why?

Whenever I create characters in a book, a lot of the time they are based on people I like, love and hate. They all inspire me in one way or another to write.

I could be here all day and tell you about every person who has played a role in inspiring each of my character's creations. But for now, I'd like to concentrate on one in particular.
Bob Diver.
Bob is the husband of Sharon Diver in my new series The Next Page. He is also a "recovering" alcoholic. Everyone in the family knows he still drinks but everyone shuts up about it, because Sharon puts him on a pedestal. He is also the brains behind her catering business, so naturally everyone turns a blind eye to whatever he does in the throes of being drunk.
Bob does something unthinkable in the very beginning of the first book in the series. This act gets Jamie Brooks' brother David involved, and in return he gets Jamie out of the house away from the evil drunk stepfather. Yeah, this could ultimately be an updated wacked out version of Cinderella. Jamie leaves her mother's and Bob's place and moves in with her brother who has also been handed some great news (sarcastically speaking). His wife has left him after he caught her cheating.
Bob is sadly based on someone I had to deal with in real life. Luckily he never married my mom, but something close to what occurs in the beginning of the book did happen. He walked in on me drunk while I was changing and didn't bat an eye or care or realize he'd done something wrong.
But what happens to his character in The Next Page is literary justice. As I started out writing it, I truly never thought about him being what he turns out to be in the end, but it felt right. I am still in the process of trying to get it finished and I have no idea how his character will be punished for what he did but it is so much fun to have the power to decide how his character will end up.

WIP Challenge Day 4: What Character do you like, and why?

I've always thought the term "book boyfriend" to be somewhat silly. Fall in love with a character in a book, only for the book to be optioned for a movie, the role cast and half the reading population protest over who was given the role of the character, thus to have the whole experience ruined. Just look at what's happened with the role of Christian Grey for Fifty Shades of Grey.

But, I do tend to create certain characters that I put characteristics of those that I admire in...and end up a little googly eyed. I mean, it's like creating the perfect boyfriend for yourself that you have some control over until the writer's block arrives and the character decides it's time for them to take over more.

I created Jacob Barnes, the older brother of a character originally based on myself years ago, and found myself putting these admirable traits in him. He turned out to be a sensitive family guy, who can be funny, and is also sexy. In fact, in past interviews I have openly admitted I'd love to visit my fictional version of Springwood, and hunt Jacob down myself.

Jacob is very easy to fall for, with his handsome looks. The fact he is mayor also adds to the image. In fact, if a girl can get past the fact he has a crazy younger sister to look after, he would make the perfect romantic interest.

 I also really like Jacob in the fact that he really has had to deal with a lot, raising two teens when he was just trying to start out his own life himself. I admire Jocelyn Barnes, his sister for overcoming trauma and getting a contract for her first novel. Of course, they both have a long hard road ahead of them. Dark secrets are going to come out that could ruin them. You can read more when Twisted Revenge, the first book in the Edge of Springwood series gets released on November 1st!

In my new series The Next Page, Jamie Brooks is a character who has dealt with stuff that is closer to home for me. She has dealt with an alcoholic stepfather who does nothing put criticize her and put her down. She's been down on her luck in the job market, and has turned to trying to promote and sell her book she's published. But she also has something I don't. An older brother willing to help her and get her out of her mess, as well as a sister who is married to a local suspense/mystery author. Combined, they all come together in the book I am currently working on to save Jamie in a situation she never dreamed she'd end up in.

So, in closing these are the characters that stick out the most for me. It's hard to narrow down just one character I truly like. They are all a part of me and of people I know, and love and hate in my past. More on that in tomorrow's post. For now, I will end by saying all these characters whether I like, love or hate them, they are a part of me and what makes me love to write.