Moments for the Heart

Hey, Weekend Writing Warriors. What an interesting week. You know as a writer when you write scenes or characters they come to life. Sometimes you fill them with real life individuals or even actors to fill rolls. Well, for me, my character Carter Jennings always played out in my mind as Donald Sutherland. His looks, attributes, and demeanor fit perfectly for who I dreamed the character as. It was heartbreaking to learn of his passing this week. It felt as if Carter passed away. Any of you ever attach a real life person to a character you created?

Well, I guess he won’t ever be starring in the movie version of my book now. 😀


God bless everyone; Let’s get into this week’s snippet!!

SYNOPSIS:

Aaron Stephenson loves his job. As food critic for the popular Houston Gazette, he gets to sample the best cuisine at the finest eateries in Houston without paying a dime. And because there are so many great restaurants in Houston, he doesn’t have to visit the same establishment twice… unless he wants to.

But when Aaron stops in at Davies Deli, a non-descript, off-the-beaten-path, family-owned diner, he suddenly realizes he wants to come back;

But it has to do more with the owners’ brown haired, green eyed daughter, Deborah than the delicious food.
Aaron and Deborah feel a mutual attraction. But Deborah has a secret that could change everything.

And then there is Carter…

SNIPPET:

Summary:
This love story novel was born out of a dream I had about an angel leaving nick knacks behind for a couple to find as they walked through an amusement park together. They were reminders about them being a couple because they were struggling. Them finding these ‘little reminders’ drew them back together. The novel also has a dual storyline, in that the MC also has a struggle with their relationship with God, so they are also being drawn back to Him as well. The diner idea came from my personal love for food, writing some of the book sitting in a Denny’s, and working in kitchens for almost 10 years.

Here is a bit from last week’s Epilogue.

Carter took a deep breath and released it. He closed the box and gazed into the distance. The traffic was light, typical for a Wednesday evening. The breeze picked up again, causing the brim of his hat to raise. Two months. Not a lot of time at all.

“So, what do you think?” Carter’s visitor asked once again.

“Ok, Gabriel. I’ll do it.”

This week, in remembrance of Donald Sutherland, I want to give you a Carter Jennings snippet, as I explained in the intro. I am skipping to Chapter Six here. Deborah and Carter are officially meeting for the first time.

The man laughed. “I’m sorry, where are my manners. My name is Carter.” He extended his hand and she shook it.

“Pleasure to meet you, Carter,” Deborah said, making the final turn toward the library. Traffic was heavy as it always was on a Monday. The mist, now a steady rain didn’t help. “So, what’s at the library?”

“Ah, the question is, what’s not at the library,” Carter theorized. “Books, stories, and history. I love a good story — happy stories, sad stories, true stories, made-up stories, anything and everything. Life is not life without a good story. I have a story; You have a story. It’s what makes us who we are. And we need to tell people about our stories. Without telling our stories, we’re just books sitting on a shelf.”

::There is your ten, but let’s continue on and finish our Carter scene.::

“Me? I am too young to have a story,” Deborah said, more to interject into the conversation.

“Everyone has a story. You stated that your father has called you DeeDee since you were little. Now there’s a story there.”

Deborah smiled. Yes, that was a story. Her father called her DeeDee because when her parents were teaching her to talk, she couldn’t say her name right. They tried to teach her Deborah, but for a toddler, that was rather difficult, so they chose Debbie. But Deborah would say DeeDee. It was so cute, it stuck.

“See, you remember,” said the man as if reading her thoughts. “I can see your eyes dancing. That means you recall why your Pop calls you DeeDee. You have a story; it’s just that youth keeps you from realizing it. And with little girls, stories usually revolve around their daddies.”

Deborah again felt the weight Carter’s words. It must have shown.

“What?” Carter said with a hopeful smile.

Deborah smiled.

“Seriously, I want to hear it,” Carter said.

“My Pop and I used to take walks on the beach. He would call it our Daddy Daughter Date. We would grab a hot dog near the shore and eat them on a bench, sand and all. Then we’d walk as far as we could. He would hold my hand, and we’d pick up shells. We even found a sand dollar once, but with the moves, I lost it a long…”

A loud car horn snapped Deborah out of her memory; the light had turned green. She pulled through the intersection and into the library drop-off lane. She parked behind a cab near the entrance.

“Well, here we are,” said Carter.

“Yes, well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Carter.”

“Yes, it was. I enjoyed our talk,” Carter said. He tucked his shoebox under his coat and leaned back into the car before shutting the door. “Remember, Deborah, fathers are always there. No matter how far we get from them, they still love us. Even when it seems they only want their own good, they have our best in heart.”

Carter shut the door and hastily walked up the steps and out of the rain. Deborah pulled back into traffic and drove the rest of the way to her parent’s deli a few miles away.

As she parked her car behind the restaurant, Carter’s words wouldn’t leave her. Deborah didn’t doubt that Pop loved her. Maybe she was too hard on him. Hard about the job, about men, perhaps even a little about church. She checked the visor mirror to make sure her face was in place, adjusted her purple hairband, and exhaled; another day.

As she went to raise the visor, something on the back seat caught her eye. Deborah looked harder but still couldn’t tell what it was. She turned and reached back and picked up the item on the seat. Her eyes, face, and heart fell into shock. It was a sand dollar. In disbelief, she flipped it over and on the back were the letters, “P” and “D.” The P was for Pop; the D was for DeeDee. It was the sand dollar she and her dad had found on the gulf shore over seventeen years ago.

It was tough to hear of Donald Southerland’s passing. It was tough enough to say goodbye to Carter Jennings last year when I penned the final words of Little Reminders of Who I’m Going to Be. My heart broke a little when I saw the notification pop up on Thursday. Have you ever seen in your mind’s eye a character? I’m still not sure why DS jumped into that roll. Guess it was the white hair and stubbly beard I put on him. In any case, saying so long to the Little Reminders series hit all over again.

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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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Featured Titles

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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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