Puppy Love? Maybe Not

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Last week you met three of the four main characters in True Blue, the first book in my True Blue Trilogy releasing next month. (If you missed it, you can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) Jeana, Wade and Billy Joe live on the same street and grew up together, but why would two ten-year-old boys hang out with a girl who usually has her nose in a book, hates sports and is pretty bossy? Here's why.

When they left the shed in Wade’s back yard a few minutes later, they blinked as their eyes adjusted to the brightness of the late afternoon sun that was still warm enough for all of them to be wearing shorts in the middle of October—business as usual in Chickasaw, Alabama. The three of them said goodbye at the privacy fence that separated Wade’s yard from Jeana’s. Wade swung the loose board aside so Jeana could slip through, then he and Billy Joe watched until she was safely on her back porch.

They'd been looking out for Jeana all their lives, and neither of them planned to stop anytime soon. Sure, she was bossy and kind of a know-it-all, but she also wasn’t silly and giggly like most of the other girls at school. She was so smart it was scary sometimes, and she’d been making up cool games for the three of them to play for as long as either boy could remember.

Of course, neither of them would ever consider admitting to anyone—including each other—the real reasons they would always look out for Jeana. That was a secret they kept hidden deep in their ten-year-old hearts and only thought about when they were lying awake at night, remembering the way Jeana's eyes looked when she smiled and the way it made her face glow like the strands of her curly red hair in the sunlight. Her smile made them want to be smarter, nicer, braver—someone who deserved the admiration of a girl as special as Jeana.

Those were the things that kept both boys willing to do anything she wanted as long as it meant they got to see that smile again.

Next week you'll meet the fourth main character—another ten-year-old boy named Mickey who's obsessed with baseball, but for a reason you might not expect. And he doesn't know it yet, but he's gonna end up feeling the same way about Jeana. I also hope I'll be able to share the cover art next week too! Please do also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

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Close Your Eyes and Go Back to a Simpler Time...

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Switching to a new book this week! If you missed the previous snippets from my YA paranormal thriller After Me, you can read them here.

This snippet is from True Blue, the first book in my True Blue Trilogy coming out next month. The trilogy follows the four main characters from fourth grade to college, so the first book is middle grade, the second is YA, and the third book is New Adult. Rather unorthodox, I know, but I've always been kinda weird. ;-) Here's the blurb for book one.

It’s 1972 in Chickasaw, Alabama—a time when kids play outside until the streetlights come on and everyone knows it’s time to go home. Jeana, Wade and Billy Joe have lived on West Grant Street all their lives and have always been best friends, but things start to change the summer after the fourth grade. The boys begin to look at Jeana and each other differently, and puberty is getting close to rearing its ugly head. Can the three of them stay friends, or will someone’s heart get broken? And who is that new boy in Chickasaw with the startling blue eyes?

This snippet is from the first chapter and introduces three of the four main characters. They have a secret club called the Mystery Masters, and this scene is from one of their clandestine meetings in their clubhouse—a shed in one of the boys' back yard. They're supposed to be sharing their most personal secrets then pinky swear not to ever reveal them. Warning: I utilized some creative punctuation.

“My most personal secret is that I hate raisins," Wade said, "they make me puke if I try to eat one.”

Jeana shook her head with a sigh and said, “That’s not a secret, and it’s not personal either—it has to be something you don’t want anybody else to know.”

Wade looked up at the ceiling and said, “Well, I don’t have anything else, so let me think about it a minute.”

“Okay, Billy Joe," Jeana said, "you go while he tries to think.”

Billy Joe smiled broadly and said, "My secret is that I can’t swallow pills. My mother has to crush ‘em up and put ‘em in applesauce for me.”

Jeana sighed again and said, “That’s not a secret either because everybody at school has known that ever since you cut your big toe swimming at H&W last year and your mama brought you applesauce with medicine in it at lunchtime every day for a week.”

Billy Joe rolled his eyes and said, “Okay, then what’s your secret, O Supreme Commander?”

Jeana’s chin lifted haughtily as she said, “Mine is that I’m going to marry Captain James T. Kirk someday.”

The two boys looked at each other, then they burst into laughter.

Jeana's kinda bossy, huh? Come back next week to find out why the boys put up with it. And please do also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

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Cyber Scum

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Well, folks, we've reached the final excerpt from my YA paranormal thriller After Me. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) I decided to go out with a bang and leave you with a creepy snippet from one of four chapters in the killer's POV. Gotta contrast all that funny snark with some darkness, you know!

The killer's name is Julian Pugh, and he's a pathetic little maggot who likes to play the big man online but is really just a wimpy Mama's Boy who can't stand up to anybody. This scene takes place right after he disposed of Jada's body after he killed her in the beginning of the book and has just returned the Ferrari he lured her with to his employer's estate in Jacksonville's ritzy San Marco neighborhood.

How could he have been so stupid and let her goad him into bashing in her skull before he got the chance to make her do the things he’d wanted her to do? He was supposed to be the one calling the shots, not her. That’s what the gun was for—it always turned them into sniveling little girls begging for mercy, willing to do anything he said if he wouldn’t kill them.

But this time he’d been cheated when the little whore had pushed his buttons and made him lose his temper. Sure, it had felt good to turn that pretty face of hers into hamburger meat, but not as good as the things he’d been planning to make her do.

Julian's fury eased a little as he pulled out of the McCarthy grounds and passed the other mansions on his way out of San Marco. He loved pretending he was house shopping and would someday own one of the huge riverside estates instead of working as a personal assistant to the wealthy men who owned them.

By the time he reached the Interstate on-ramp that would take him downtown, he had consoled himself with plans to amp up the online relationship he’d been fostering with a naughty little thing who called herself WETNWILD16 and had been dropping hints in her messages that sparkly things really turned her on, and Vera McCarthy had a more than ample supply of what she called “disposable” jewelry—complimentary trinkets from upstart jewelers trying to get exposure. She never missed the things Julian pilfered to send to his online sugar babies.

Yes, he’d start this one out with something sparkly, then he’d reel her in with something sporty and fast, and this time he would make sure she stayed alive long enough to repay him for his generosity.

What a scumbag, huh? Wouldn't you like to see him get what's coming to him? Well, you can buy After Me here. :-) And please do also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

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Stinky Wind Chimes

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Here's the penultimate snippet from my YA paranormal thriller After Me before I move on to the next book. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) This scene takes place when our heroine Jada goes home with her new friend Annalee and meets her mom's worthless boyfriend, Rufus.

Photo by http://l1b3rtypr1m3.deviantart.com/

He raised his hand to hit Annalee, and I literally saw red—the same as when I’d sent Dougie flying into the tree. Before I could stop myself or even think about what I was doing, I had my hand around his throat and pinned him to the wall with his feet dangling ten inches from the floor like stinky wind chimes.

“Big mistake, Rufus,” I said. “Nobody talks to my friends like that, and you’re even stupider than you look if you think you’re gonna touch her. I’m gonna give you exactly thirty seconds after I put you down to get your shit and get out of here for good. If you’re not gone by then, I’m gonna break off two important body parts, the loss of which are gonna keep you from hitting anybody ever again and also from being able to pee without a catheter. You got that, douchebag?”

Even with the red filter over my vision, I could tell his face was turning a deep purple shade that meant he couldn’t breathe let alone speak, but he managed to nod and signal his agreement. I released his throat and he fell to his knees on the floor, coughing and gasping for breath.

“One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi…”

Uh-oh. She's gonna have some 'splaining to do to Annalee after that little episode. Tune in next week for Jada's swan song. I promise it'll be a tune you won't soon forget! Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please do also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!


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Take a Look, It's in a Book

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

We're closing in on the last few excerpts I'll be sharing from my YA paranormal thriller After Me. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) Lots has happened since last week's snippet. Jada made a new friend on the school bus, a mousy little bookworm named Annalee, and Jada is surprised to find out how much she wants Annalee to like her. Annalee talks her into going to the school library (a place Jada has never been in until then) at lunchtime and gets her to check out To Kill a Mockingbird. In chemistry class the next period, Jada's plan is to pretend to read after their quiz in hopes that it will make an impression on Lew Stanton, the nerdy guy she's crushing on who can't stand her. But she gets two big surprises: the story grabs her and won't let go, and she has suddenly become a speed reader—another "super zombie power" she doesn't quite understand. Here's the exchange that takes place when Lew asks Jada about the book.

Ben May Main Branch, Mobile Public Library My beautiful home library!

“Hey, the bell rang,” Lew said, "didn’t you hear it?”

I looked around and realized everyone was leaving the room, then I said, “Oh, guess I got distracted by this crazy book. That little Scout chick is a trip.”

He narrowed his eyes and said, “What part are you on?”

“They just found out the hole in the tree is filled with cement.” I stood up and dropped the book into my backpack. “Pretty lousy thing to do if you ask me.”

A slow transformation took place on his face, and I knew he hadn’t believed I was really reading it until then. He was looking at me as though he were seeing me for the first time, and my knees actually got weak when he smiled at me.

And to think it was all because I finally went into a library.

Yep, libraries are magical places for sure. ;-) Next week Jada again gets to use her one zombie power so far that's not quite so nerdy. Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please do also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!


~Stay true to yourself and your dreams will come true!

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You're the Peanut Butter to My Jelly

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Here's another snippet from my YA paranormal thriller After Me. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) As promised, this scene shows Jada meeting her new bestie Annalee, who is nothing like any of the friends she had before her untimely demise.

When I got on the school bus the next morning, the guy I'd tossed across the yard the day before stuck his foot out in the aisle in front of me and said, “Better watch your back, bitch.”

I smiled at him and said, “How’d you get that lump on your head, Tree Boy? Unless you want some foot pain to go along with that headache, you better move that smelly cross trainer outta my way.”

One of his hands wandered up to the back of his head and he muttered something about how I’d be getting mine, but he took his foot out of the aisle and didn’t meet any of the curious looks from the people around him.

“Yeah, I thought so,” I said before walking away and sitting in the first empty seat I came to. I was still snickering to myself when I noticed the girl across the aisle—a mousy little thing wearing clothes that had to have been through at least two previous owners—looking at me curiously. I opened my mouth to ask her what the hell she was looking at, then I changed my mind and smiled at her instead, and she looked startled for a second before smiling back at me.

I tilted my head in Tree Boy’s direction and said, “Hope that guy’s not a friend of yours.”

“Dougie? No way,” she said, frowning at the back of his head, then she leaned toward me and whispered, “You should’ve stomped on his foot.”

Next week we'll see how Jada's new friendship with Annalee affects that crush she has on Lew Stanton. Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please do also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!


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Dang, I Was Hoping For X-Ray Vision!

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

My two-week vacation across the USA was fabulous, but it's great to be back home so I can read and comment on all the other WWW and SS blogs I've grown addicted to! Here's another snippet from my YA paranormal thriller After Me. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) Last week Jada found out from Flo about the addendum to her termination agreement that's making her ga-ga over Lew Stanton, math whiz and the captain of the school's chess team. Here's how she discovers another one of her "super zombie powers." Well, maybe not so super.

Since the transdead weren’t immune to accumulated grime, I still had to shower and wash my hair like everyone else, so I got my pajamas and went into the bathroom. While I was standing under the pulsating stream from the massaging showerhead, I realized I missed little things like how good it felt for a hot shower to pound away the tension in sore muscles. I could feel the water hitting me, but I couldn’t tell if it was hot or cold. Apparently, the neurons and synapses of the transdead didn’t continue to transmit the way they did in the living.

Wait, what?

How the crap did I know anything about neurons or synapses? And not only that, I realized I suddenly understood how the whole nervous system operated. Great, my transformation into nerd girl obviously involved more than just crushing on chess players. I was turning into some kind of freaking brainiac myself. The super zombie strength was cool, but this had to be the lamest superpower ever.

Next week Jada meets the new best friend that Flo warned her about in the e-mail. Big surprise—she's nothing like the friends Jada had in her previous life. Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please do also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!


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You've Got Mail

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Happy Sunday, snippeteers! I'm on my way back home from vacation, but here's the snippet I scheduled before I left from my YA paranormal thriller After Me. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here. Last week, Jada found out that she has "super zombie strength." She thinks that's pretty sweet, but it doesn't explain the weird attraction she feels for Lew Stanton—computer whiz and crazy math watch wearer. According to the Transdead Trustee guidelines, she's not supposed to be feeling any emotions. She e-mails Flo, her Afterlife Advisor, as soon as she gets home (with the subject line: What the hell?) and this is the response she gets. I didn't count the addresses or signature as sentences so this may put me over the limit. So sue me. ;-)

FROM: florence@blueyonder.net
TO: dead_girls_do_it_better@gmail.com
SUBJECT: RE: What the [redacted]?

Dear Miss Gayle:

Apparently, an addendum to your termination agreement was inadvertently left out of your paperwork, and the new objectives were just uploaded today. In addition to your prime directive of finding the man who killed you, you must also learn to handle normal human emotions, since you did not experience them while you were alive. This explains your feelings for the young man you mentioned. Don’t be surprised if you also feel a strong desire to befriend another girl your own age. These things are not negotiable. So, in the vernacular of yourself and your peers, you need to “deal.”

Don’t forget to change your e-mail address to something more appropriate.

Regards,
Florence

Next week Jada discovers another one of her "super zombie powers." Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please do also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!


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A Particular Set of Skills

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Happy Day-Before-Independence Day! I'm on the road with my family, but I scheduled my snippet posts for the next two weeks before I left. Here's another one from my YA paranormal thriller After Me. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) This week's scene takes place after a jerk named Matt Winston has spread the word at school that "Gwen" used to live on the streets. A guy on the school bus decides to harass Jada about it when they both get off and she discovers her newly acquired "particular set of skills."

He looked me up and down and laughed. “Just trying to make up my mind how much to offer you.”

I put my hands on my hips and said, “Give it up, jerkwad. You wouldn’t have enough if you robbed Bill Gates and won the Nigerian lottery.”

His face lost its smirk, and his hand shot out to grab my wrist as he said, “Don’t get uppity with me, you little tramp!”

Maybe it was because it was the same thing BOSSMAN had called me on the night I died, but his words echoed in my head as though they were being broadcast from a loud speaker. It suddenly seemed like I was looking through some kind of red film or at a TV with the tint turned completely to red. I snatched my arm free and pushed him in the middle of his chest with both my hands, and he went flying backward at least ten feet to thud against a sycamore tree in the yard behind him.

I stared at my hands in amazement and said, “Sweet. Super zombie strength.”

Wonder what other cool things she can do? Stay tuned to find out. And next week you'll get to see what Flo has to say about all of this. Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please do also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!


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Crushing on a Nerd

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

I'm continuing for a few more weeks with my YA paranormal thriller After Me. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) Last week Jada arrived at her new foster home in Coconut Grove. This week she's started school in her new persona, but instead of hanging with the A-listers like she did in her former life, she's decided to befriend a group of nerdy guys that she thinks may be able to help her with the online search for her killer. All but one of them are pretty much in awe of her since she looks like she stepped out of a graphic novel. And wouldn't you know it, the one who clearly doesn't like her turns out to be her chemistry partner, Lew Stanton.

I tried to pay attention to what Mr. Forrester was saying about the chapter we were about to start, mostly to keep myself from looking sideways at Lew, but it didn’t work. I couldn’t resist checking out his short blond hair with its razor-sharp part, the way his blue Oxford was buttoned all the way up to his neck, the ring on his left hand with the strange black stone, and the almost manicured look of his fingernails. And instead of wanting to laugh at any of it, I found it all weirdly appealing.

What the crap was going on?

At one point, while I was trying to figure out what the weird numbers and symbols on his watch meant, he looked up from his note taking and said, “What are you staring at?”

“What kind of crazy watch is that?”

He glanced at it and said, “They’re square roots—instead of twelve, it has the square root of 144. They’re the same thing.”

“Yeah, I’ll have to take your word for it on that, guess it's a math thing or something, huh?”

He rolled his eyes and went back to taking notes.

Once again, I need to warn you not to make any assumptions about this guy. Things in my books are not always as they appear at first. For instance, if you think this scene means the book is morphing into contemporary high school drama, next week's snippet will change your mind about that. Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please do also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!


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Looking for a Loser

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Happy Father's Day! Here's some more from my YA paranormal thriller After Me. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) Jada has made it to her new foster home in Miami's Coconut Grove, and (surprise!) she doesn't hate it. Today's snippet shows how she starts the search for her killer. BTW, I decided to create a fictional social network since I figured the real one probably wouldn't like being associated with online predators.

I logged off the blog and opened my FaceSpace page to check for new friend requests. With a name like Cherry Licious and a profile picture of legs clad in lacy thigh highs, I’d been getting plenty of requests and private messages from guys of all ages, but none of their names or personal info sounded like the one I was looking for: BOSSMAN. What a joke. I bet that pathetic loser wasn’t the boss of anything but his favorite video game.

I shut down the browser and lay across the bed. I still wasn’t used to all the things that were different about me now, and I only had a day and a half before I started school on Monday. Like the Transdead Trustee guidelines had said, I hadn’t felt any emotions since I came back, but at least I could still appreciate a good joke. Flo probably hated that.

Next Sunday we'll see if Jada can blend in with the other kids at school. I'm thinking she'll probably stand out just a little, what about you? Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please do also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!


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Adventures in Shoplifting

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

I'm continuing with my YA paranormal thriller After Me. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) Last week was Jada's first blog entry about her first week as Jada the Pervert Slayer. So how does she get from the abandoned warehouse she woke up in to her new foster home? She tries shoplifting in three convenience stores, but all she gets are three offers to trade sex for the stuff she's trying to steal. Finally, she goes into a liquor store with a old woman behind the counter and hits paydirt.

Artist: http://teelamb.deviantart.com/

Thirty minutes later, I was in the back of a Miami patrol car, sobbing my poor misguided little heart out. I guess the two cops felt a little sorry for me, although that didn’t keep one of them from feeling me up when he searched me before putting me in the car. Anyway, they took me to the juvie center, and after convincing my case worker that I’d had enough of life on the streets, I got sent to a group home while I waited for a foster family to take me in.

I’ll skip the sordid details of the group home except to point out that if I’d been there any longer, I’m sure a couple of the male workers would’ve been my first victims. And I couldn’t help feeling bad for real girls like Gwen who had to live on the street or in places like that. My life before had really sucked, but this was a lot worse.

Luckily, after only three days in the group home, I got the good news that a family who was willing to take a teenaged girl had contacted the agency. The next day I met the Shermans, my new foster family. Brad, Karen and twelve-year-old Nathan—yuppies with a heart of gold, determined to save the world, one teenaged delinquent at a time. Gwen’s a lucky girl for sure.

Lucky for those guys that Jada hasn't yet discovered the new skills she's acquired since her recent untimely death! Find out next week how she starts her search for the man who killed her. Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please do also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!


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Dear Dead Diary

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Here's a little more from my YA paranormal thriller After Me. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) Despite all her protests, Jada knows she can't get out of her obligations. As we join her this week, she's gotten all her instructions from Flo and has assumed her new fake identity. One of her requirements is to periodically check in with Afterlife Admissions by entering a journal record of her activities on a special blog accessible only to Transdead Trustees. Here's a little from her first entry.

PAYING IT UPWARD Blog
Saturday, October 5, 2013

Okay, so here’s my first week as Jada The Pervert Slayer.

I woke up in an old warehouse somewhere in Miami, surrounded by empty Thunderbird bottles, syringes, and used condoms. I couldn’t resist testing what Flo had told me, so I broke one of the bottles and stuck the jagged edge into my palm. Nothing—no blood, no pain, and the cuts started to close up almost immediately. It would’ve been kinda cool if not for the whole being dead part.

I found a purse beside me (a hideous pink sequined thing) that held my new ID cards but no money. The character profile for Gwen said I had been living on the streets and prostituting myself to pay for my meth habit, and once I got outside in the sunlight, (which neither fried me nor made me sparkle) I realized they’d dressed me in my work clothes—a black shirt tied in a knot between my boobs, hot pink booty shorts, and silver stilettos. Actually, the purse matched the shorts perfectly. Gwen was color coordinated at least.

Next week we find out how she gets to her new foster home. Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please do also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!


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Balance Due

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Here's a little more from my YA paranormal thriller After Me. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) Last week Jada discovered that she has to stay among the living until she finds and stops the man who murdered her. As you might expect, Jada's not too happy about having to be "some kind of psycho zombie chick," but here's why she's obligated to do it.

"You had a verbal contract with us that must be honored, Miss Gayle.”

“What contract?”

She typed something then looked at the monitor and said, "This one.”

I watched the screen go black, then I saw myself when I was thirteen, kneeling on the floor next to my bed with my eyes turned heavenward. Flo turned up the volume on the monitor, and I heard myself promising that I would do anything to keep my best friend Cassie from dying of leukemia.

“But that’s not fair,” I said. “Yeah, Cassie went into remission, but look what happened to her later. I shouldn’t have to keep a promise for that.”

“I’m sorry, but we don’t argue semantics here. You said you would do anything, and now it’s time to pay up.”

Oh, snap! Don't you hate when a promise comes back to bite you in the butt? Find out next week how our heroine handles her first week as Jada the Pervert Slayer. Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!


~Stay true to yourself and your dreams will come true!

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Your Mission, Miss Gayle...

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Here's a little more from my YA paranormal thriller After Me. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) Last week Jada discovered that she won't be going on to The Great Beyond just yet because there's an administrative hold on her Afterlife Account. She has to serve time as a Transdead Trustee in order to clear her account, and here's what she has to do.

(Photo from iZombie, The CW)

I took the papers she handed me and scanned the one on top, then I looked at her as if she were crazy and said, “I have to track down predators until I find the one who killed me? Are you kidding me?”

“Another pointless question, Miss Gayle.”

I threw the papers down on the counter and said, “Okay, then here’s a question for you. Why do I have to go back as some kind of psycho zombie chick as punishment for what that sicko did? He’s the one who should have to pay for it, not me!”

“Oh, he will, make no mistake about that. Your job is to bring him to justice sooner than he expects, possibly putting others like him out of commission along the way.” She pointed to a yellow box of text at the bottom of my assignment page and said, “And you’re not being punished, you’re paying an early termination fee. As are all Transdead Trustees, you’re being sent back to complete what was left unfinished in your life.”

Next Sunday Jada finds out exactly why she's obligated to clear her account. Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!


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Heavenly Red Tape

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

I'm continuing with snippets from After Me, my YA paranormal thriller. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) When last we left Jada, our dead heroine, her Afterlife Advisor had just explained that the Afterlife Admissions department was reserved for people who had no sense of humor when they were alive. Flo was just about to check Jada's account in the LIFESCORE 6.2® program. We pick up as she discovers an unfortunate snafu. (Creative punctuation utilized to fit the sentence limit.)

“Okay, so what’s my assignment, scrubbing floors for being a slob while I was alive?”

Flo looked at her monitor and said, “No, I’m afraid you won’t be staying with us at all, because there’s an administrative hold on your account.”

“A hold—who put it there?”

One of her eyebrows went up and she said, “It’s an administrative hold, so do you really need an answer to that question?”

“Okay, fine," I said, "so what does it mean exactly?”

“It means, Miss Gayle, that in order to clear your account, you’ll have to serve time as a Transdead Trustee back on Earth.” She typed something else then said, “I’ll print out your instructions and answer any questions you may have before you’re sent back.”

“Sent back?” I sat up in my chair and leaned forward to say, “You mean I get to stay alive?”

“Not exactly, you'll be among the living and will appear to be one of them, but you won’t be alive, per se.”

Hmm...how exactly does that work? Next Sunday Jada finds out the first part of why she got the hold in the first place and why she's obligated to clear her account. Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!


~Stay true to yourself and your dreams will come true!

See all my books at my Web site
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Keeper of the Golden Paperclips

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Happy Mother's Day! It's a gorgeous day here in the Heart of Dixie, I have three kids and three bonus kids (I like that better than step-kids!) so I feel truly blessed today even more than usual!

Thus far in After Me, my YA paranormal thriller, Jada has made it into the inner sanctum of the Afterlife Admissions Office and has been admonished by Tablet Guy not to touch anything while she awaits the arrival of her advisor, a no-nonsense woman named Florence. (You can catch up on previous snippets here.) This is what happens when Flo tells Jada that they need to take a look at her account.

“My account?” I almost laughed. “You mean I was supposed to be saving money to bribe my way in here or something?”

“No, it’s your Afterlife Account, and it’s what determines whether or not you’re admitted and where you’ll be assigned.”

“Oh, jeez.” I leaned back in my chair and looked at the ceiling. More angels. With harps. “If you’re gonna put me someplace like this, I’d rather just burn for eternity.”

“No, this department is reserved for people who had no sense of humor when they were alive,” she said. “For the most part, we’re staffed by IRS agents and high school English teachers.”

My apologies to all the English teachers out there. ;-) Next Sunday Jada finds out exactly where she's going and why. Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!


~Stay true to yourself and your dreams will come true!

See all my books at my Web site
Follow me on Twitter
Like my Facebook Fan Page