![]() I LOVE to sit at my computer on a Sunday morning, coffee in hand and slippers on the feet, and explore what #SnippetSunday authors have to share. The Snippet Sunday Facebook group is a supportive community of authors who share eight to ten sentences of their work every week. Make sure to stop by and see what they have to share! Here's a link to the group > And thank YOU so much for stopping by! Out of Time continues from where I left off last week. I cheated and posted a wee bit more than ten sentences - but it's the end of this part. Next week's snippet shifts into a new scene. Hope you enjoy! Apropos of nothing, how the heck did this week go by so quickly??? And tonight we're even losing more time because of Daylight Saving Time. It never made sense to me that it was called DST - in the spring and summer we have plenty of sunshine. Shouldn't DST be in the fall and winter when the sun's appearance over the horizon is shorter? We should be saving as much daylight as we can. See? Get my thinking? :-) She sighed and looked out the window at contemporary Benton -- she didn’t know what she could possibly find. There was nothing here anymore. Nothing here but ghosts. Kayla changed into her pink long johns and crawled under the covers. Opening her tablet, she pulled up the picture of the letter she’d found in Virginia City. Was the mentioned ‘Addy’, her Aunt Adeline? It was a common name in those days, but when Kayla had first found the reference, she knew this was her Addy. However, now that she’d had time to think about it, she wasn’t as sure. Kayla zoomed in until ‘Addy’ filled the screen. She traced the letters with her finger. “Aunt Adeline. What happened to you?” She reread the letter a few more times, trying to find other clues she might have missed. Eventually her eyes began to close. Giving up, Kayla turned off the light and settled down for the night.
12 Comments
Welcome back! It's #SnippetSunday time again and I'm continuing with the short story I posted last week. Please make sure to visit the Snippet Sunday Facebook group and read the other snippets posted by authors. They're all amazing and include a variety of genres. Out of Time follows a young woman searching for a lost family history. In the haunted town of Benton, she discovers that past and present memories overlap, and that ghosts aren't always what they seem. A jackrabbit bounced across the road, skittering off into a ditch. Benton used to be a thriving gold and silver mining community. Now the only residents were the owners of the town who maintained rough camping facilities for adventurous travelers, and the seasonal help who ran the inn for those tourists who preferred a bed and four walls. The main draw to Benton were the eight hot springs maintained for camping and inn guests. She shut off the car, taking a deep breath when she opened the door. It was so quiet that the cooling car, with its pops and sighs, was louder than the insects and the birds. No cars passed, no people spoke, no music played. She ignored the sliver of…something…that traced down her spine. She’d never been here before, but the dry, chill air smelled like a memory; a memory she couldn’t quite picture. It stood there at the edge of her vision, teasing her. And then it was gone. Welcome to #SnippetSunday! Thank you so much for stopping by. Please make sure to visit the other amazing authors who have shared their writing with you. Click here to go to the Facebook group >. Today I'm sharing the opening of a short story I submitted to a contest this past week. Out of Time follows a young woman searching for a lost family history. In the haunted town of Benton, she discovers that past and present memories overlap, and that ghosts aren't always what they seem. ![]() The autumn sun burned in reds and golds as it set behind the desert mountains. Benton Hot Springs, an almost ghost town off California Highway 120, only six miles from Nevada, was home to approximately thirteen and a half souls, according to the welcome sign. Kayla was there to find answers. Looking around at what was left of the town, she wasn’t sure she’d find them. Weathered, wood buildings slumped in between sage bushes. Half-walls and crumbling stucco hinted at structures that had been. The shell of an old general store still stood, with no-trespassing signs affixed to the plywood covering where the windows should be. There was a cemetery high on the hill overlooking town. Kayla would hike up there tomorrow morning to see if she could find the tombstone of her great-great-great-great Aunt Adeline. Thank you for stopping by and spending time with me. Please visit other #SnippetSunday authors and be sure to comment on their work if you feel moved to do so. Feedback is an essential part of writing. This snippet is from my WIP, a historical romance set in early 1880s California. Without giving an ounce of plot away, the (tentative) title of the book is 'Gold Digger'. Enjoy! "I know I’m being childish, but I don’t want to marry. We are not in love.”
“How can you not be in love with the man?” Mary Beth’s voice rose an octave. “He is brave. Deliciously handsome. Why, I would be delighted to marry him if I were you.” “Exactly! You should be the one—“ “Winifred Lucinda Bergman! I’ve just about had enough of your complaining." Winnie’s mother slammed the door as she entered the room. “Your father has worked hard to give you a good home and to make sure you land yourself in one that’s just as good.” “I know. I know. I’m sorry, Mother.” Winnie hung her head in shame. Her shame was not that she’d complained, but that she desired a different life. She wanted an adventure, like her brother, Frederic. He’d left for the West Indies five years prior and had not been home since. His letters had filled her mind and heart with the places he'd been and the people he’d met. If only she could have that life and not the life she was consigned to. It wasn’t fair. Welcome to Snippet Sunday! It's been awhile since I've posted so thank you so much for stopping by.
I am beyond excited about a new book I'm writing! It's part of a series that was inspired by a road trip I took this past summer down the Eastern side of the Sierras. The heroines in the series are all single women out to find their fortune and pave their own way in life. Since it's the late 1800s in California, this is easier said than done. It was a wild, exciting time in the western state with both frontier and cultured elegance living side-by-side. The first book is Winifred and Dempsey's story. I'm so in love with these characters I get emotional just thinking of them. Just wait until you hear about their lives! I haven't written a synopsis yet, there's no title, but I just can't wait any longer to share the opening part with you. The first lines will give you an idea of what's to come. In the next few weeks I'll put up a book description. Hope you enjoy! Winnie sat in the second parlor, her heart beating wildly. Her mother had left a few moments before, after announcing that her betrothed had arrived. Her betrothed. Was she really to be married in less than an hour? Winnie smoothed the ivory colored satin of her skirts, pushing down the layers until she felt her thighs underneath. She’d barely been able to sit with the voluminous swaths of fabric covering her tiny body. She was lost in the material, a wisp of herself. Mother had insisted on the spectacular dress. They had to maintain their status, after all. Maybe it wasn’t too late to run. |