My Writing

Currently, I have three manuscripts in the works: two Young Adult fiction novels and a zombie novel (which is really more for my own amusement and probably something I’ll never seek publication for.. )

I will put excerpts of my manuscripts on this page, for anyone interested in getting a peek at my stories and my writing style.

The following samples are a couple of my favorite scenes (both from the same chapter) of what I lovingly refer to as my “England Story” because I don’t have the faintest idea for a title yet!

This story is about a 17 year old girl, Cora, who has just graduated from high school and goes to spend the summer with her father (who has recently inherited a large sum of money and an old estate in the English countryside.) Mystery, love, and heartache ensues! (And, yeah, that’s really cliché.. I’ll come up with something cleverer later.)

Hope you enjoy!

(I would also like to point out that Avery and Cora are the only characters whose names are set. The others have only been given average-joe names until I can find something more suitable for them!)

***

“You know,” my dad said as we stepped into the ballroom, “if someone had told me a year ago that one day I would be able to walk from my bedroom to my very own ballroom where I’d be hosting hoity-toity charity events, I’d have told them they were nuts.”

“No kidding,” I said, glancing around the room.

In the course of a few hours, the ballroom had taken on an entirely different appearance.  The bare, gloomy walls were now occupied by abstract paintings, big and small, in dazzling hues of every color imaginable and the room was buzzing with excitement and nerves as the caterers rushed around, preparing for the arrival of the guests, and the members of a stringed-quartet positioned their chairs and tuned their instruments. The gold and crystal chandeliers and wall sconces were polished to perfection and cast a soft light over the entire room.

My dad proudly smoothed the lapels of his tux.  “But it looks pretty spectacular, if I do say so myself.”

The sound of roaring laughter reached my ears and I turned to see a group of people, Mr. and Mrs. Smith in their midst, nearing the door.

“Shall we go welcome our guests, my lady?” My dad said in the best nasally, arrogant voice he could conjure up.  Which, to be honest, wasn’t very good.

“Dad…”

He grinned and again held out his arm for me, and we set off to greet the guests.  We were soon joined by Ms. Black, the founder of the charity that the auction would be benefitting, and the three of us stood at the door, shaking hands and exchanging polite salutations with each individual who passed by and, considering that I barely knew less than a handful of them, I wasn’t having much fun with it.  Until, of course, at the back of the line of people waiting to come through the door, I saw Avery.  He looked slightly uncomfortable, his gaze darting about the room as he fidgeted with his tie, but then, as he was looking around, his eyes met mine and he stilled and smiled.

“Coralie?” an unpleasantly familiar voice interrupted my thoughts.

I don’t know how long Brian had been standing there, but he appeared to be annoyed that I hadn’t noticed him.  He looked over his shoulder in the direction I’d been staring, and when he turned back around he looked even more irritated.

“Hey, Brian.  Thanks for coming,” I said quickly and politely, hoping that he would leave me alone and move on down the line to speak with my dad.

His face softened, the anger quickly disappearing.  “Always a pleasure.  And I must say,” he began as he grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips, “that you look amazing.” Never breaking eye-contact, he placed a kiss to the back of my hand.

For a second, I thought about jerking away and using the back of that hand to place a well-deserved smack across his face but before I could, my dad, having just finished greeting another guest, saw Brian and reached out to shake his hand, forcing the creep to release mine.  Thankful to let my dad deal with him, I turned my attention back to the place where Avery was standing.  He was glancing back and forth between Brian and myself with a raised eyebrow.  I rolled my eyes, eliciting a grin from Avery, and at the sight of that smile, a soft, involuntary snort of laughter escaped me.

“It is rather difficult not to notice him, isn’t it?” Brian said, and I clenched my jaw, pretending not to hear him or to know exactly who he was talking about.  “I wonder if he feels as out of place as he looks…  But,” he paused to shoot a slick smile at my dad, “inviting the staff to an important charity event is just the type of thing I’d expect from a man as generous and accepting as your father.”

***

After Brian was gone, I was left with the difficult task of trying to control the goofy smile that I felt threatening to spread across my face as I greeted more guests, very aware of the fact that as each person passed, it meant Avery was getting closer.  And soon (though not nearly soon enough!) he was standing before me, dressed in an awesome black tux, but looking no more and no less gorgeous than he would have if he had shown up in his typical jeans and t-shirt.

Then, before even saying hello, wearing that easy, confident smile of his, he wrapped his arms around me for a quick hug, which I was more than happy to reciprocate.

“Is that allowed?” he asked after pulling away.  “I think we’re a bit past the handshake, but, if we’re being honest, that double-cheek kiss thing that a lot of these people seem to be doing? Well… it just looks ridiculous.”

I lost my battle with the goofy smile.  “I’m pretty sure a hug is okay.”

“I would have kissed your hand,” he said but then paused and quickly looked around before leaning closer, “but I’m scared to think about where else Brian Owens’ lips have been tonight,” he finished in a whisper.

I glanced down at my hand, making a disgusted face. I hadn’t thought about that.

“That and you looked like you were about to hit the guy so I figured I’d better not try it.  I’d hate to embarrass myself by getting slapped at my very first high-society party.”

In my amusement, I spoke before thinking.  “Well, that is what I was thinking but only because that kiss was completely unwan–” I stopped, trying frantically to think of a way to make that sound like anything other than the way I’d meant it.

“Completely unwanted?” Avery asked, finishing my sentence.  He tilted his head to one side as he stared at me, a playful smirk on his lips.  “But a kiss from me would be wanted?”  He took a small step towards me.

I couldn’t tell if he was flirting or making fun so I just bit my bottom lip and didn’t say anything.

“Well, that’s good to kn–,” he started but immediately stopped and took another small step back as my father’s hand suddenly appeared between us.

“You two are holding up the line,” my dad said, smiling as he reached out to engage Avery in a handshake.

Avery laughed nervously and his usually ivory-colored cheeks were a soft pink.  “Sorry, Mr. Evans.”