Moments for the Heart

I can’t believe we are done with a month in 2023 already. Wow. Now we move into February and can promote our Love Stories in preparation for February 14. I have two, working on the third. You are reading it now. I encourage you to purchase the first two Little Reminders books and fall in love with the characters, especially Carter. He is the angelic being who is bringing the couples together. No he is not a ripped shirtless figure. But his heart is one of gold. I’ve always pictured him as Donald Sutherland looking. But at this point, he has yet to enter the picture. Soon, though. Now that I’ve laid the groundwork of ‘who’ and ‘what’, I may skip a bit to the scenes that matter. We shall see.

God bless you faithful Weekend Writing Warriors. Talk to you next week.

SYNOPSIS:

Stephanie Marshall is the owner of a successful Charlotte, NC writing firm. She and her staff advertise for some of the biggest names up and down the east coast. Even though the writer’s life is exciting, and her company is in demand, she struggles with the monotony of home life. Stephanie is on the verge of an affair and has chosen to take the next step in that relationship.

… And then there is Carter.

Our angelic friend is back, and he visits Stephanie to teach her three lessons about her life. One that involves her past, one about her present life, and one that will challenge her to the reality of the choices she makes.

SNIPPET:

Summary:
Last week we looked through the eyes of Jason. This is one thing I love to do as an Author–switch POVs. I think it helps round out a story and pulls in a reader even more. It also helps to not label the book to one particular gender. Anyhow, we hop back over to Stephanie this week and her POV from Jason’s phone calls.


First a bit from last time:
“Well, I can’t stop thinking about last night.” Jason said.

“Right. Some women need to hear that. It shows you care. One phone call goes a long way. And you’ve been whistling and dancing around this draft room all afternoon. You’ve pissed off half the morning. She probably thinks you’ve forgotten about her,” Blake replied.

“Well, I better get on the phone then,” Jason went into his office and dialed Stephanie’s number. After three rings, it went to voice mail. He tried again, with the same result. She’s probably in a meeting or on the phone with a client, he reasoned. She wouldn’t purposely ignore his calls, especially after last night’s intense evening.

Jason returned to the draft room office. Blake looked to him with eager eyes. “Well, what did she say?”

No answer. She must be in a meeting,” Jason shrugged.

Now let’ get into our new snippet:

We move ahead a bit. All we miss is Jason on the job site and him attempting to call again with no answer. He does get what he feels is a sign. Through a discussion about beams he feels that he needs to go home immediately. This closes out Chapter Five and takes us into Chapter Six.

It was after three o’clock, well past the time she had told Jason she would be home. Her phone had buzzed three times already. She had let it go to voicemail twice. The third, she swiped right. She knew she would have to explain that one. Kenneth had left the office shortly after their kiss. He had gone home to pack, saying he’d be back at five, and they would leave. She sat in her office in thought, in between agony and ecstasy. She had crossed the line, a line she was not sure she could come back from.

There is your ten (or so). And now we continue on to finish out the scene:

Stephanie sighed and shut down her computer. She picked up her phone and dialed. “Hey Jason,” she said when he answered. “Sorry. Just putting out a fire here…. No, nothing that bad, just a few things that didn’t get finished and an unhappy client…. Yeah. It got fixed. Sorry I didn’t pick up. Was on the line with the client, and then I was lost in work and just forgot to call you back. I’m sorry, love. I am heading out the door now…. Yeah, me too. See you soon.”

Stephanie rubbed the back of her neck. She could feel the tension; it ran down her arms into her hands. Standing, she paced her office, walked to the window, and looked at the passing traffic. So many people coming and going, oblivious to what she was going through. What was she going to do? She looked back at her phone, then to her office door. There was a decision to make, and since life was half about being as happy as you can make yourself, she chose to throw caution to the wind. Jason made her happy, but Kenneth made her feel wanted. And she had to explore that option. She just had to go home and grab a few things.

Well it seems that Stephanie has made up her mind. Now it seems the matter of explaining it all to Jason and making it out of town.

I find myself antsy because I want to get into the meat and potatoes of the book. I am there right now with editing. I am in the middle of Chapter Ten right now. I feel I am on schedule. My plan is to have my edit complete by March 1. I am finding myself more meticulous with this one. I’m not sure if it because it is the finale or because I fell short for NaNo and feel the book may be lacking. I DON’T want to force material into it. And usually during editing you find yourself more of cutting stuff out. So this book may be sorter than it was when I began. We shall see. I do pray you are enjoying it so far.

Thank you for following this thread and my journey. God bless.

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Monday is Memory Monday
We remember an important event that occurred on that Monday or sometime that week.

Tuesday is Two Twenty-Two Tuesday
A weekly vlog where I talk about writing or something that’s been on my heart, all in two minutes and twenty-two seconds.
This is posted on my YouTube channel.

Wednesday is when I will post my blog for the week.
I speak from my heart on various topics from writing to faith.

Thursday is This or That Thursday
A weekly two-option poll that raises the question, do you like this, or do you prefer that?
I host this on this on Twitter, IG, and Facebook.

Friday is Fun Fact Friday
I find and share interesting or obscure facts on my pages.

Saturday is for Weekend Writing Warriors
Saturday is for Snippets from a current piece or past work.

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Thanks for reading this week. It has been a long week. My writing client has woken up and giving me assignments right and left. I love that because I am earning money again. This means I am writing this snippet on Saturday morning, just beating the deadline. In fact, I need to go over and enter my link. Heh. Done. I almost missed it again.

If you are a reader and enjoy the above genres, I encourage you to pick up a novel. They are great reads. The Little Reminders series is encouraging and tugs at your heart. This book will complete the circle and you will fall in love with the Carter character. This book completes his story. I, for one, will struggle to say good-bye to him.

In His Exciting Service,

Jeff S. Bray

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.

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