Moments for the Heart

Hey, Weekend Writing Warriors. Another week has passed and it has been a difficult one. I started it off with a seizure cluster. As you know I have Epilepsy and it does rear it’s head every so often, even fully medicated. So, last Sunday set my week off on a sour note. But Friday ended on a rather exciting note. I had jury duty. I was selected and served. I was even the foreman. It was a small traffic violation, but was exciting nonetheless.

Well, enough about me, let’s dive back into the dangerous world of our characters. I know we are getting into the nitty gritty of it, the courtroom. And hey, now I have a bit of experience for my novel.


**If you’ve missed out on anything and want to can catch up on past snippets, you can click here.**

SYNOPSIS:

Michael Andrews thought he was far removed from the events his father experienced twenty years ago. He heard the bedtime stories so often, he had driven them out and was barely speaking to his dad. Religion was the last thing he wanted, until it became the only thing that mattered.

A new threat arises; his wife is arrested for talking about God to the wrong person. Now Jacob Andrews may be his only hope. He must lean on him, Rachel’s attorney, and those who understand what occurred twenty years ago and may be happening now when an old adversary returns to wreak havoc, using federal laws to exact revenge on the Andrews family.

Will he succeed, or will justice prevail to set Rachel free?

>>>If you are curious about the first novels snippets, I have them archived: Here is a link to them if you want to read up on The Fiver Barred Gate <<<

SNIPPET:

Summary:
This Five Barred Gate sequel, is a Dystopian Suspense about what would it be like if freedom of expression liberties were taken from us. In this installment laws have gotten more strict. One could be arrested for simply speaking their mind if another chose to press charges. This multiplied for the Christian community. The laws were strict for Jacob in the first novel, now twenty years later, his son Michael must face his own battles.

Here is a bit from last week:

“Johnathan, what’s wrong?” Michael said, close on his heels.

Johnathan didn’t reply, entering the restroom, and into the first stall, losing whatever lunch he had had.

Michael stood back, wondering how bad it could’ve been. The case before them ended with a flustered attorney threatening the judge. Now, their case drove his attorney to physical illness. This was not a good sign. What happened in that courtroom? And what’s happened to my wife?

–We closed out Chapter 14 last week. We move into Chapter 15 this week. And we time travel a bit. We go back before Johnathan enters the courtroom, and now we get to see things from his POV and what led to this sudden illness.–

Johnathan looked at Michael, “Hey, Michael. I’m up.”

Michael looked up with furrowed eyebrows, then walked over.

“They continued the case before us. I’m heading in before she gets even more upset.”

“She’s upset?”

“I don’t know, but if those attorneys were any indication, we don’t know what to expect. Better to expect the worst and hope for the best. I’ll talk to you later.” Johnathan said, then entered the courtroom.


::There is your ten, but let’s continue and enter the courtroom.::


The doors swooshed behind him, and he followed the bailiff down the aisle. The judge was wrapping up a case being continued. She seemed somewhat agitated the prosecution did not have their star witness in the courtroom. From what little he heard, there had been an incident at the jail, and he was unable to appear. Johnathan sat in the second row while they set a date for the next hearing, which would take place upon his release from the infirmary.

Johnathan cringed at the mention of infirmary and the thought of Rachel in the same predicament. How would he explain something like that to Michael? How serious were these people? If they were willing to nearly drive Michael off the road and threaten an eighty-year-old man, how far would they go inside the prison where the blame could be easily passed off? He feared Rachel’s appearance, rather feared more the lack of it with the story behind the case of the gavel slap that just occurred.

The attorneys left the courtroom, the offended attorney at a slower pace, his head shaking toward Johnathan. Johnathan shrugged with a grimace.

“Is there a problem, counselors?” A voice called to them.

Johnathan looked up. The judge was standing, looking in their direction.

Wide-eyed, the caught-in-the-act attorney turned around, “Nothing at all, Your Honor.”

“Not at all, ma’am,” Johnathan echoed.

“I would expect not, gentlemen. Please clear the courtroom if you do not have business here.”

“I am Johnathan Clarke, Your Honor, attorney for Rachel Andrews,” Johnathan said, as apologetic as he could manage.

Judge Charlene Ellison picked up the case file on her bench, lowered her glasses, and read it over. “I am aware of who you are, Mr. Clarke. Please step forward. The accused will be in shortly.”

I so wanted to give more, but we will have to wait until next week. I almost cut the intro to the chapter as it is a repeat of a previous scene, but it needs to be there to lead Johnathan into the courtroom. So if you got flashbacks or ‘didn’t we read this before’, yes you did. Remember we went back in time so we are seeing things from Johnathan’s POV.

I struggled with deciding to do multiple POVs this in this book, but it was the only way to capture what was going on with both scenes and characters. But I believe I have delivered. It may be harder to follow in snippets though. Or I may think so and just over explaining it. I have a problem with doing that. 😀

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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. — I am way behind on this… sorry.
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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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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