Back in the saddle

Happy Snippet Sunday!

​Back in the saddle and enjoying every (limited) minute of it.

Thank you so much for stopping by for Snippet Sunday. I know it's been a long time since I've participated, but I'm finally back. I'm taking an online class with Angela James, Before You Hit Send.  Excellent class! And it's forcing me to edit the heck out of Take Two.

For more information on Snippet Sunday, a Facebook group, click here >
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This week I worked on an emotionally tense scene that's been causing me problems. I think I have it now, but I could sure use some feedback! This is towards the end of the book. Rachel's young daughter, was in a car accident a few days earlier and is in a medically induced coma. Roger had called Rachel the night before and told her he wasn't able to come and be with her.

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Rachel's eyes hurt. Her head hurt. Her heart hurt. She sat at the kitchen table, a mug of coffee in front of her. The steam from its heat had dissipated long ago and her hands now gripped cold ceramic. She wanted to stand up, get dressed, go to the hospital to be with Angela, but her body wouldn't cooperate. There was no energy left.

The clock chimed seven, startling Rachel. She could hear cars going to work in the street. Looking past the simple yellow curtains, she watched the couple next door walking Daisy, their spry two-year-old golden retriever. I have to tell them I'm back. And go pick up my mail. And pay my rent. And water my plants. Retreating to a familiar, emotionless place of making lists and organizing her life, Rachel's pain began to ease.

Focus on what needs to be done. With the new mantra in her mind, Rachel nuked her coffee back into existence and hurried to get herself out of the house. By the time she threw open the front door, she was determined to fight through the day with courage.
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Rachel almost ran into Roger. He was standing in the doorway, his hand raised as if he’d been about to knock. Startled, she jumped back. 

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Is their love real or fiction?

Rachel is a teacher and a single mom who’s picked up the pieces of her life after a horrible marriage. She’d thought her ex-husband was the man of her dreams. He wasn’t. She’s moved on and written a historical romance novel, Swashbuckler, that’s been picked up by Hollywood.

Rodger is an actor who doesn’t trust women. He’s made bad choices in his past that have come to haunt him in the present, especially the choice that came packaged with blond hair, large tits, and a marriage that was doomed from the start. Rodger thought they were in love—turns out his wife was a social-climber more interested in his status than his heart. He doubts there is a woman alive who can love him for who he is, and not for his fame or for the fantasy he presents to the world.

Both Rachel and Rodger have been burned by love, trusting a reality that turned out only to be fantasy. Will their fear succeed at keeping them apart? Or will they break through the barriers and allow themselves to love once again? After all, sometimes reality is much sweeter than fantasy.