Moments for the Heart

Hey, Weekend Writing Warriors. Another week. Well, it’s November. And you seasoned writers know what this means. NaNoWriMo. To the others, National Novel Writing Month. It’s the challenge to write a 50K word novel in the month of November. I’ve participated nearly every year since 2017. All my novels are NaNoWriMo works. I had planned to step away this year with two novels being released in 2025. But the bug hit me yesterday morning and I knocked out my first 1667 words without a thought. So, here we go!!

Elissa Celebrates Christmas and Elissa Learns Thankfulness are available through Amazon!! I’m too excited to offer both books side by side for the holidays.

SYNOPSIS:

I had planned to give you another snippet from Little Reminders of Who I Am, but with NaNoWriMo, I will take you on the journey with me and give you snippets from the book I’m writing. Keep in mind that these will be raw and unedited. So, excuse errors and grammar.

My piece for NaNoWriMo will be The Five Barred Gate III. Considering that The Five Barred Gate II will be released on January 5th, it would be my next logical piece to pen. Enjoy.

The Five Barred Gate is a dystopian world where the government has enacted laws against freedom of speech. This has hurt the religious community the most.

SNIPPET:

Summary:
The Five Barred Gate III picks where The Five Barred Gate II leaves off. Derrick Andrews is talking with his wife, Rachel, and feels he needs to go with is dad, Jacob, to Austin to talk with the authorities. They’ve been demanding him to release his sermons for scrutiny before they are delivered from the pulpit. He has refused. Facing arrest, he now wants to make his appeal.

For the ‘bit from last week’ I will give you some of the ending of Gate II.

Here is how The Five Barred Gate II ended. (no worries, no spoilers revealed)

“Everything okay, love?” Rachel asked.

“I don’t know. Dad just seemed off. He hugged the kids as if he would never see them again.” Michael said.

“What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know. But I really think I should go up to Austin with him.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“He said he was fine. He said he has parishioners up there for support.”

“And you left it at that?”

Michael shrugged.

“After all that you two have been through the last year, you let him leave alone?”

“You and the kids need me here.”

“Hah. We can handle it. There is no one here to bother us. We can’t be afraid of what happened anymore. The judge dismissed the case with prejudice. It’s over, Michael. We are free.” 

“I know. But I am wondering what has Dad so afraid,” Michael said, nodding toward the empty driveway.

“Maybe you should follow him and find out.”

That was the ending of TFBGII. Here we go with Chapter I of The Five Barred Gate III. Jacob is our main character. Frank Dunham is a business owner and friend. Derrick is Jacob’s son.


“How did I know I’d find you here,” the burly voice said as Jacob turned his head.

“Frank,” Jacob began. “Figures, you’d know to come here.” Jacob sighed, “I can’t believe this place is still here and in the same condition Pastor Eric left it.”

Frank, his hat in his hand, looked around the dim lit basement room. “Yes. I’ve been down here many times. Before and after. Especially after he was imprisoned. We had no idea what to do. We all thought Edwards would arrest us next. Especially Will Anderson. But I supposed looking back, his fears were warranted.”

::There is your ten, or so, but let’s continue a bit with the scene.::


“Yeah. I hate that we had to go through this again. I thought he was gone. Now Roger is gone. I still feel responsible,” Jacob said.

“Don’t do that to yourself, Jake. No one is to blame but Kendrick. We had no idea he would stoop so low.”

“We should’ve,” Jacob said. “The apple doesn’t fall from the tree, even if it is second hand.”

“What’s your plan?”

Jacob looked around at the dusty room, willing an answer from the memory of a long gone friend.

“I have to go to Austin.”

“You know what will happen if you do?”

“Yeah. There is a chance I will be up against a stricter system than down here, but I’m tired of hiding and feeling I have to watch my back all the time, Edwards or not.”

“I’ve heard through a buddy that Kendrick Edwards is being charged with Federal crimes. Enough of the officers who arrested him saw his actions and heard his threats against you and your dad that no court in the world will be able to grant him clemency,” Frank Dunham said.

Jacob just nodded.

“What was it like down here?” Jacob asked.

“The fire?”

The place they are in is a bomb/fallout shelter beneath a closed school. In events before the first book, the first Official Edwards set fire to the place their underground church was meeting. The school remained closed and in events in the first book, the church began to meet in the band hall under close supervision of Edwards. You can read all about it in the Five Barred Gate.

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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 n ew 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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