Sunday Snippets #sundaysnippets by ginger simpson

Desperation's Bride - My current WIP

Clara grabbed a shawl from a nail by her bed and slipped  the garment around her shoulders.  “Should I just have Mr. Curtis add the purchase to Linus' account?”

Ma brushed a kiss against her cheek.  “Yes, daughter please do..  He has left me no money and there shouldn’t be a balance at this point.”  She dipped her chin and gazed at the floor..  “Linus may be unkind to you when he imbibes, and I’m sorry for that, but I’ve spoken with him in harsh terms about his treatment of you, and I expect things will improve." She raised her gaze and displayed a smile that appeared forced."He is a good provider though and kind most of the time.” 

The woman looked so sad, Clara struggled against telling of her plans, but thought better until she knew for certain things would work out with Mr. Pollett.  Would he accept her and make her happy…or was she planning a move from the pot to the fire?”

She embraced her mother.  “I don’t blame you, Ma.  I’m fine, and I appreciate you are taking up for me"  Clara gazed at the sunlight shining through the wooden shutters. " I’d best be going so I can get to town and back in time for you to have your flour for dinner fixins'.”

Clara stepped outside.  The August air caressed her cheeks with warmth, but as the sun lowered, the temperature would cool.  She removed her shawl and draped it over her arm, drawing in a deep breath and inhaling the smell of the coming fall.  With any luck, she’d enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas as a new start to life…one she’d treasure.

The walk to town  during the changing of the season   renewed Clara's energy.  Leaves of reds, oranges, and yellow made an artist’s pallet of nature and colored the scenery for the entire trek.  Cheeks warm and breathless from the hike, she heaved a sigh of relief at seeing the mercantile which also served as the local post office..  A bell over the door tinkled her arrival, and before inquiring about the needed flour, she stood at the counter, her heart pounding.

“Hello, Mr. Curtis.  Is there by chance a letter for me?”

**********************************

This is my next proposed novel, and I'm very excited about it.  Clara is a great communicator, and although this is my first draft, I expect it will turn out great.  I hope you'll come with me on the journey to complete the story. If you'd like to sample some of my other stories, please check out my Amazon page..

In the meantime...I have a few friends I'd like you to visit.  They do Sunday Snippets too:

http://connievines.blogspot.com (Connie Vines)

http://yesterrdayrevisitedhere.blogspot.com/ (Juliet Waldron)

http://triciamg.blogspot.com (Tricia McGill)

SUNDAY SNIPPETS WITH GINGER #sundaysnips

This week I'm offering six paragraphs from one of my two works-in-progress, Deceived.  Last week, I offered a sampling of its predecessor, Betrayed.  Despite being told by my current publisher that my relationship novel was not selling and they wouldn't be accepting any beyond my next submission in that genre, I've decided to finish the story because I personally "lived" the event with my sister as she tried to recover from her Internet dating experience.  Of course, I fictionalized names and added a few phony facts. :)

I'm hoping for encouragement to continue writing this story, so leave me a comment and tell me what you think about both books.

Hadn’t she learned her lesson? Cassie Fremont mentally kicked herself as she busied herself with a much overdue house cleaning.  She'd just returned from her second date...lunch...with a man she met on the Internet. One would suspect after what she'd been through, she would’ve known better.  Her sigh sliced the silence as she thought back on her disastrous past.  She tried never to let the name, “Evan Dennis,” drift into her mind, but she couldn't help wondering if he'd found another sucker who believed  he actually gave a damn about her.

Clearing the devastation Evan had wreaked on her emotionally and financially had taken years.  By the time the proverbial smoke had cleared, Cass realized“sucker” was the only word fit to describe her any anyone else who accepted his line of charming bullshit.

Leaving the dust cloth splayed on the end table, she widened the slats on her mini blinds and peered out the front window at cars passing on the street.  Who rode in them, where were they bound, and were they happy?  Distracting thoughts kept her from the task of cleaning and thinking of Evan.  With any luck, he rotted in Hell.

 Having already married once and divorced, she’d taken back her maiden name to try to erase fifteen years of heartache, but nothing, nothing, could eradicate the bad memories of being cheated on by her first husband.   With no self-esteem left, she'd lost herself in Evan, and then discovered he’d been a cheater, too, but in an entirely different way.

  Past experiences left her cold and unyielding to the idea of male company for five long and lonely years, killing any chance she'd had with Brian Green, the police detective she dated for a time while he investigated the dead-end Evan had become.  Then Will appeared. Something about him thawed her icy protective barrier and penetrated her defenses.

Maybe she’d been seduced by his handsome face, trim body, longish hair, or chocolate eyes that saw through to her soul, or...perhaps she was just a desperate, aging woman who needed male companionship and sex.

  Cassie furrowed her brow, fought niggling doubts about men, and  backed away from the blinds.  She resumed dusting, but still her naive actions played in her mind.  Was Will really the one for her? Their first meeting had been on a dating site despite her swearing she'd never visit one again after the disaster with Evan. Depression and lack of finances kept her housebound, and surfing the Internet became her only entertainment. In a weak and stupid moment, she'd created another profile, but that night, she'd actually gone online with the intention of removing it.  That's when she saw Will's picture.

****

This is the intro to the story, and if you haven't read Betrayed, you might have read it as Embezzled Love.  I previously released this story through another publisher who dealt only in paperback, and of course I don't know if I sold any, so I thank Books We Love for giving it new life, cover and title.

Deceived is the continuation of Cassie's journey to find love.  You can probably tell by the title, she's not lucky in that department...or maybe she is now.  :)  Check out my Amazon page for all my books.

Now, hop on over to the following blogs and see what's cookin' there:

http://www.jamiehill.biz (Jamie Hill)

http://triciamg.blogspot.com (Tricia McGill)
http://medievalnovels.blogspot.com (Vijaya Schartz)

A PAGE STRAIGHT FROM GINGER SIMPSON #apagestraightfrom

Borrowed from Google Images

Sarah's Getaway

by

Ginger Simpson

The storm raged, and the silhouettes of dancing trees shone through the window with each lightning strike. After each flash, a crack of thunder rent the air and rumbled the old cabin walls.  Sarah huddled in a corner, shivering  beneath a blanket wrapped around her shoulders to ward off the cold.  The electricity was out, and there was no way she dared venture outside for wood to light the fireplace.  So much for a weekend getaway to forget the stress of working. What she wouldn’t give to be back in the city, snuggled in her big comfy bed with her hunky husband, Wolf, but those days were gone...wiped away the night he was killed in a car accident six months ago. Now she traveled, in a trance-like state, back and forth to the publishing office that employed her.

Her thoughts were jarred by another loud boom.  Startled, she curled into a smaller ball and pulled her woolen cover tighter.  Somewhere in the forest, a tree crashed to the ground and the floor quaked beneath her feet. Despite mourning her husband’s death, her mouth curled into a smile as the oft-asked question, “if a tree falls in the forest…” crossed her mind.  At least the timber hadn’t fallen on the mountain vacation home she and Wolf had purchased together, and that was a good thing, however from the distance between the thunder and lightning, the tempest swirled right overhead.  Maybe she hadn’t escaped Mother Nature’s vengeance yet.  Sometimes Sarah prayed for death too.  Her faith dangled the hope that she would be reunited with her beloved husband.

Sarah’s pocket quivered from the pulsation of her cellphone.  She’d turned the ringer off while she worked on her first novel, but now didn’t mind a distraction from researching the old west.  Writing the genre brought her closer to her dearly departed.  She fished for her phone and grasped it, then held it to her ear.  

“Hello.”  She answered as thunder roared overhead again, causing her to duck her head to her meet her folded knees.

No one answered.  

“Hello!”  Sarah yelled a second response into the mouthpiece, still huddled in her woolen cocoon.

This is the first page from my current WIP which will be the followup to Sarah's Heart and Passion. I truly loved that story and wanted to continue the saga. Sadly, Wolf's passing is going to make a big impact on Sarah's life. I hope you'll be as anxious as I am to see what happens.