Moments for the Heart

Good afternoon Writing Warriors!! Here we are into a new month and Spring is just around the corner. Well, I am wishing for it. It has been a bit cold for us here in South Texas. Sorry for all of those who are struggling with worse than that and are digging out from piles of it or worse. I will be praying for you. My 25-degree chill is nothing.

My computer chose to take a nosedive after two drops of tea hit a key or two. I am still on it, I just plugged in an external keyboard and mouse. I ordered a replacement keypad, but it turned out to be the wrong one and the company I ordered it from is giving me issues about returning it. I should’ve just ordered it from HP. Which is what I need to do now. Here is a peek at my current setup.

Anyhow, just a reminder, The Transference will hit shelves on May 11. This is the Crime Thriller I introduced you to last year. I should be getting the cover this week if my publisher is on schedule. I hope he is, I would like to get onto promoting it.

Okay, enough of my woefull rambling. Here we go for this week’s snippet.

SYNOPSIS:

I have completed the edit for Little Reminders of Who I Was. Here is the updated Synopsis and what I am submitting to my publisher.


Derrick Anders is a college student who works in a Houston chain bookstore. He struggles between his studies, work, and a recent loss in his family. Derrick has little time for friends much less a love life, in spite of Breonna, a coworker who has her eyes set on him. And then there is Carter. He is sent to do what he does best, bringing two hearts together. But there is something unique about Derrick that Carter will not be expecting. Something that will bring back his past and he may need an old friend to help him get back on track.

SNIPPET:

Here is a bit from last time:

Last week we found Aaron being asked to take over Carter’s assignment of helping Derrick. He is given Carter’s shoebox of Little Reminders. Here are a few lines from that snippet.

“What do you need me to do?”

“Find Carter and convince him to complete his assignment,” the visitor said.

“What makes you think I have that much influence?”

“Because you are one of his success stories. It’s what he needs to see right now.”

Aaron sat, weighing the angelic being’s words. Jasmine walked by, refilling his tea and exchanging concerned glances between the three of them. Aaron waved her off.

“Is there anything else I can do?”

“Now that you mention it?” the man picked up a backpack from the floor that Aaron had not noticed before. He pulled out a worn shoe box. Aaron immediately recognized it.

“That’s Carter’s shoebox,” Aaron said. “Is that what he holds his Little Reminders in?”

“It is,” the visitor said, placing the shoebox on the counter in front of Aaron.

OKAY LET’S GET YOU TO THE NEW SNIPPET: I am going to jump ahead a into the next chapter. In this scene we find Aaron on the search for Carter. He has spent most of the day looking in places that he has known Carter to frequent, then he realized there is one place he hasn’t looked. Davies Deli.

The sweet aroma of pizza sauce and fresh cobbler danced with each other as Aaron entered the deli. He saw Pop’s top hat swooping back and forth throgh the server’s window. His eyes popped up, then a face, giving Aaron a fatherly smile. Aaron returned the gesture and scanned the room. The girls were, as usual, busy with the crowd. It was slowing down, it being after one, and the office clerks were already gone. The room was half-filled with nursing scrubs and second-half office staff.

Then there he was, tucked in a rear booth, his back toward him. The collar of his tweed coat was most recognizable, the brim of the hat, unmistakable. Carter Jennings sat in the back corner of the diner. How long he had been there, he didn’t know; it could’ve been all day. Was he waiting for him? It sounded like something Carter would do. Aaron approached the counter and called Pop around.

“Aaron, my boy,” Pop said, spatula still in his hand. “What can I do for you?”

“Hey, Pop. Sorry to bother you, I know you have a heavy wheel.”

“Anything. What ’cha need?”

“The man in the corner booth.” Aaron nodded toward him. “In the tweed. Do you know how long he’s been there?”

“Hmm, Table 13. I’m not sure. He looks familiar, though. Should I know him?”

“Yeah, we know him,” Aaron said. “Don’t worry about it. I was just curious when he came in. He’s an old friend. Didn’t want to have him waiting forever for me.”

“Okay. Well, I better get back to my flattop. Customers await, and I have another pot of secret sauce on the estufa. Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm, it is good, Aaron, my boy.”

Aaron laughed as Pop darted back through the swinging doors. He poured himself a glass of tea and inched his way toward Carter, Derrick’s Bible in hand. He didn’t feel comfortable with the whole shoebox thing, much less approaching Carter with something from it in hand. He wasn’t sure how Carter would react to him having it. One step at a time. One Reminder at a time.

“It’s about time. I was about to give up on you,” Carter said without turning around.

“I was about to say the same thing on the street until I realized where you were going.” Aaron stopped behind Carter, just out of view.

“We all circle back to what’s familiar.”

“What was wrong with your library?

“All I could see was that boy’s face. And that boy’s face led me to his mother’s.”

Scenes like this are what make it fun to be a writer. Pop was one of my favorite side characters to write. I loved his spunk. We as writers always talk about how we get those characters who tell us how they want to be written. Well Pop was one of those characters.

When writing LROWIA I did make him a bit spunky, but he kept pushing me to go further. And when I got to the point of writing the books climax, it’s where the ending of the book came from, his perspective. Don’t you love it when your characters come to life and tell you how to write your books? It is part of the reasons we do what we do.

Also in this scene we get a couple of callbacks to the original book. Those who have read the first may see them. I wanted to include as many subtle callbacks as I could without this being a sequel. One I guess you could call an easter egg.

Visit Jeff S. Bray Facebook and Twitter pages for more

I have a Facebook and Twitter page that has something going on every day of the week. I’ve also started to build my Instagram page as well. Come on over, follow, and interact with my pages and share them out!! Here’s what you can expect to find there.

—Monday is Memory Monday – I share an important event that occurred on that Monday or sometime that particular week.

—Tuesday is Two Twenty-Two Tuesday – I post a weekly video where I talk about writing or something that’s been on my heart, all in two minutes and twenty-two seconds. This will be posted on my YouTube page and shared on Twitter and Facebook.

—Wednesday is when I post my blog for the week. – I’m attempting to make this regular, but it is sporadic at best.

—Thursday is This or That Thursday – A weekly two option poll that raises the question, do you like this, or do you prefer that?

—Friday is Fun Fact Friday – I find and share interesting or obscure facts.

—Saturday is for Weekend Writing Warriors – This is when I post my Snippet from a current piece or past work.

I’m trying to make my site and pages fun and engaging. Something that people look forward to visiting. It’s been something that has been on my heart (pun intended) for a long time and I’m now acting on it. I’d love your support!! I’m also finding ways to link these over to Twitter because I’ve been more active on that platform lately than Facebook.

Important Links!!

– Little Reminders of Who I Am is available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other booksellers.

–The Five Barred Gate is available on Amazon in Hardback, Paperback, and Kindle versions.

–You can purchase TFBG direct from me on my Home Page. The benefit of buying direct is you will receive a personalized signed copy!!

–My Children’s books, Elissa the Curious Snail are also on Amazon. There are 4 books about an adorable snail teaching children about prayer and believing in themselves.

–You can see all updates regarding the progress of The Transference, publication dates, and appearances.

Little Reminders of Who I Am

The Five Barred Gate

Elissa the Curious Snail Series

Fellow Warriors, I also have a somewhat weekly blog that is posted in between these snippets. I would love to hear your thoughts. You can also follow me on Twitter as I am a regular over there.

AND if you have little warriors running around I now have many of my Children’s Short Stories on this website. They were originally on my Elissa the Curious Snail publisher’s website, but I now control that domain and have moved that content here. There are many stories for your little reader. These are great bedtime or anytime short stories.

In His Exciting Service,

Jeff S. Bray

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Check out amazing established and emerging writers at Weekend Writing Warriors. Each week we post new snippets from either published works or works in progress for each other to comment on. Gain insight into how the mind of a writer works and a behind-the-scenes look at works before they hit bookstands everywhere.