Moments for the Heart

Here we are Writing Community and fellow book writers the moment I have been waiting for the entire novel. Getting into the nitty gritty of Little Reminders of Who I’m Going to Be. I’ve explained that this is a cross between a Hallmark Movie and A Christmas Carol, well here we go with the Christmas Carol part of it. I’ve always wanted to write a time travel piece but never had the audacity to write one, feeling it was beyond my ability. But I decided to give it a go with this piece.

I don’t want to get too far into this book, so March will be the last of my Snippets from this novel. I may jump into the novel and give you a snippet as we get near its release in October, we shall see. Thank you for your support in reading them this far. I hope you have enjoyed Stephanie, Jason, and Carter’s journey. I have loved writing this novel. I hope these final two snippets will whet your appetite to dive into Carter’s world and purchase his other two novels.

Without further delay, let’s get into this week’s snippet. Also please read the wrap up below. I am having a dilemma with the title. I explain below. Please read and give me your input in your comment.

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 time we met Stephanie was giving Carter a piece of her mind about what she thought about his advice her love life and his thoughts about her heading upstairs to Kevin. She chose to continue with her plans to meet with Kevin against Carters warning. But it does seem Carter has a final word for her.


First a bit from last time:

“Well, Mr. Carter,” Stephanie said, standing.

“Mr. Jennings. Carter is my first name.”

“My apologies. Mr. Jennings. If you have no further proof, I’m about to head upstairs and enjoy the evening that I’ve earned. I don’t know how you found me here or how you know these things about me.” Stephanie drained the remainder of her cup. Then waved her finger at Carter. “You almost had me, and I don’t know what Vanessa or anyone else told you, but Kenneth cares about me, and we are about to share tonight together, and that means something.”

“I sure hope you will feel the same way in the morning,” Carter said.

“I know I will,” Stephanie said, “nothing can change that, not you or your God.”   



Now let’s get into our new snippet:

We ended the Chapter Seven the last time we met. So now we move into the next chapter. And we see what has happened with Stephanie. –(This is where it gets interesting!!)—


“Missus? Missus?” Stephanie was woken by someone tapping her shoulder. She snapped up to see a confused cleaning lady with a bottle of Windex in her hand. “Missus? What are you doing in this room?”

Stephanie had to shake the heavy feeling from her head. She had never experienced a hangover in her life, but if she were to have had one, she imagined this is what it would feel like. Her head felt like a sledgehammer had hit her between her eyes, and every muscle in her body ached. She groaned as she tried to stand; that wasn’t happening at the moment.

She had little memory of the night before. She did remember, however, a man in a tweed hat yelling that God was about to strike her down. She had to laugh, but even that made her ache. Maybe this is what a lightning bolt from heaven felt like. The thought made her shudder. Ouch.


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



The maid was still in her ear. “Missus? Who are you, and why are you in this room?”

“This is my room. I checked in last night,” That much she remembered, or assumed.

“No, missus. This room is listed as vacant. What is your name?”

“Stephanie Marshall,” she said, rubbing her temple. The maid was rather loud.

The maid went to the phone on the nightstand and dialed. Stephanie looked at the nightstand. It looked odd. She remembered it being white; it was now brown. Wow, what did she drink last night? What did Kenneth give her? —Oh, hell…

Stephanie shivered, wondering what Kenneth had done to her. “Where is the man I came here with?”

The maid hung up the phone. “I don’t know. All I do is clean rooms, ma’am. Our clerk says they don’t have any record of this room being occupied, and there is no information of a Stephanie Marshall checking into this hotel.”

“That’s not possible. Let me call him back….” Stephanie reached for the phone.

“Her,” the maid said, placing her hand over the phone. “Gayla Yandel is the manager. She will tell you what you need to do downstairs. But the front desk clerk says you need to leave this room immediately. It’s reserved, and I’m here to give it a final cleaning.”

“I need to find the man I checked in with,” Stephanie demanded. “I may have been drugged and possibly raped. Don’t you understand? I arrived here with this man, and I don’t have any memories since I arrived and your rude awakening. Now I need you to call your manager, call the police, call whomever you need to. I need help. Now!!”

Wow. What has happened to Stephanie? To ease your mind, no she wasn’t raped. I will give you that much. I don’t want to leave that type of cliffhanger. But something definitely isn’t right here. Several hints are given throughout the scene. They are easier to pick up on if you are reading the book, and not so much broken up as we are reading it. If you have a good memory, then you may have picked up on them.

Writing this book up to this point was difficult because I was always anticipating getting to this point. I am sure you can relate. Now it gets exciting. — Please read the wrap up below. I have a question I need your opinion on for this book’s title —

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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 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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Featured Titles

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THIS WEEK’S WRAP-UP

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT:
Serious question and I need honest opinions. I need to decide the title for this series. I’ve had one for the duration of writing it, but it may not fit the current series format for my publisher.

It’s been Little Reminders of Who I’m Going to Be since I began writing it. But looking at the cover, I don’t think it will fit cleanly. Little Reminders of Who I Will Become will fit cleanly and still maintain the gist of what the original title means. I don’t like it as much, but I’m more about a clean looking cover.
What do you think?

Little Reminders of Who I’m Going to Be
or
Little Reminders of Who I Will Become

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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.