Moments for the Heart

CURRENT SYNOPSIS:
Michael Andrews thought he was far removed from the events his father went through twenty years ago. He heard the bedtime stories, so much so 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 close family who understand what occurred twenty years ago and may be happening now when an old adversary returns to wreak havoc and use current federal laws to his advantage and exact revenge on the Andrews family.

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

3/9/2024: Just completed the final edit of The Five Barred Gate II. And from the looks of it I haven’t given an update as to publication. I got word from WordCrafts Press that release date for TFBG2 will be on January 5, 2025. Yeah, we have a little bit of time, but we have a firm date. It will give me time to focus on Elissa and further promotion of Little Reminders III. I also have to edit The Transference II to do, which was also given a release date, October 25, 2025. I may let that one sit on the shelf for a bit. I need a breather.

As for this book, I am excited to finally close the door on writing. It turned out much better than I thought it was. Writing it during Camp NaNoWriMo vs the official NaNo was the reason I felt indifferent about it. But during the edit, I realized it was a much better novel than I originally thought and there were nowhere near as many edits as I thought there were going to be. I thought I was going to have to rewrite half of it. I can’t wait to get this book into your hands, especially those who loved the first installment. Speaking of, you can become a fan. Pick up the first novel today. There is plenty of time to read it before January.

2/22/24: New year and new opportunities for this book to shine. The Transference II is done and in the rear view mirror. NaNoWriMo23 was an intense adventure. A 120K word adventure. Good heavens, I’ve never written anything that long. The longest book was its predecessor. The Transference was almost 90K. Now this one will sit on the shelf for a bit and cool off while I focus on The Five Barred Gate II.

My last post had me in the middle of editing. I had completed that edit right before I dove into NaNoWriMo in November. I still had that wondering feeling if things were going in the right direction. I didn’t know what to expect heading into this edit that I started a couple of weeks ago. But I am excited to tell you that I am on fire for this book again. I love my characters and I am enjoying the editing process. There are a few tweaks here and there, but more clarity and grammatical than content.

I will do a better job of keeping you posted. It is one of my New Year’s Resolutions to get back into keeping my website and you updated on all that is going on. I know I am a month late on this, but better late than never. Among this is keeping my YouTube channel updated. You can check that out HERE!!

8/7/2023: I am at Chapter 23. About ten chapters to go and it’s feeling stale. Not sure if it is because I haven’t touched it quite a while, or if I just don’t feel like editing and am forcing myself to get it done. But at some point I know I was excited about this book. One thing that has refreshed me is I had three readers of the first novel approach me this last week and talk to me about the first book. Out of the blue with no prompting. When I told them that I had written a sequel and was editing it they were excited about it. It was what got me back in the editing chair.

Perhaps the blahness is just getting back and being the middle without a warm up to where I am at. Like starting a movie in the middle, you just haven’t had the build up. Regardless, it was refreshing to have fans excited about a project. The only issue is that this book is no way near ready. I don’t have plans to release it until maybe Summer of next year.. I still need to release and promote Little Reminders III.

I will keep you posted. Check in here for all the information.

4/22/2023: Three months to the day. Still in the same boat. Although I am dabbling here and there with getting the final edit completed. Chapter by chapter it is coming together. But just as we were in January, not sure when this book will see the light of day. I want to focus completely on Little Reminders III for at least six months. And that doesn’t even begin until November.

I haven’t changed much in the edits so far. Just clarified a couple of things, but am realizing that it was a bit better than I anticipated. We’ll see how that goes as we move forward, and if I can keep my stories straight as I have been confusing the kids from this book and Little Reminders. That’s no bueno.

1/22/2023: Just a note about where The Five Barred Gate II sits. While complete, the novel will most likely sit for a bit. I’m working on editing Little Reminders of Who I’m Gong to Be, currently set for an October 2023 release. I learned my lesson last year releasing two books in one year, and I will NOT make that mistake again. I lost sales for The Transference because I lost focus and momentum. I most likely will not do NaNoWriMo this year, instead I will use it to edit this book and release it mid 2024.

It makes me anxious not to be actively writing something new, but I think editing will take up enough of my time and polishing Reminders, then diving back into Gate II will be enough to keep me busy. That will get me ready to write something new for NaNo 2024 and release new content for 2025. Not sure what that will look like with Reminders done, and not sure if there will be a Gate III. But for now, Gate II will sit quietly until later this year wile I focus on Reminders III. Thank you for your support and following this thread.

10/22/22: The finish line has been crossed and novel number five is in the books. Well written at least. this one will probably sit on the shelf for a bit. I think I am getting way ahead of myself writing. That or I just need to find a way to market better because no sooner than The Transference was released than I found myself neck deep in getting ready for Little Reminders. Although we did have a bigger than expected delay with Transference. Regardless, my writing aspirations and energy just needs to cool down. I don’t like to say it, but I may need to sit out a NaNoWriMo maybe a year. Just not this year. I am writing the third installment of Little Reminders this go around.

All in all, I am happy to have this book complete. Yet, as I always say when I hit the end of a book, I’m not as sure it is as good as I would like for it to be. But then I go back through it and I find it better than expected. There is that and the whole editing thing. I can change it. That is what editing is for, right? Well, I will keep you posted on how this goes. Not sure when I will get back to this. NaNo starts in two weeks, then I will be neck deep with Carter and his new adventure.

10/11/2022: Here I go again, forgetting to update everyone. I have given an update on this in other threads, guess that is where my confusion is. Well, I am almost done. The book is nearly at 60K words and 27 chapters. I am near the climax. I am hoping to get it completed between now and November 1 because I need to start Little Reminders of Who I Am Going to Be for NaNoWriMo.

All in all I am iffy about this one. I know I say that all the time, then I go back and read it and it turns out pretty good. But I am feeling it being dry and disconnected. But we shall see. I get that feeling because it is not all written at once. Every time I step away from it, my mind gets separated from the book and stepping back into it there is some level of disconnection from the characters. So we shall see when I go back and edit it and stay involved without interruptions.

I do know that I would like to add to it, I don’t feel my villain is as developed as I would like to make him. Or his cronies. We shall see.

7.30/2022: Wrapping up the month of July, I did hit my Camp NaNoWriMo goal of 30K for The Five Barred Gate II. I did not complete the novel as I had wanted to. But I did cross the 40K mark. And I am heading downhill now. And it is getting exciting. I am more of a Panster right now because I have no clue where this book is going or of how I intend to end it. But ideas come, and I write them. It’s probably why I have not completed it yet. But I do have a couple of months to relax before I have to gear up for NaNoWriMo22 and Little Reminders of Who XX XXXXX XX XX. I know what I want to write about I just need to develop an outline, characters, and how Carter is going to play into it. As for this one? I will most likely just get it written, and it will sit on the shelf for a while. Not sure how long, though. With LIttler Reminders 2 coming out in November. Then I want to take some time off to refocus on The Transference, which is not doing as well as I anticipated. We shall see how it plays out.

7/13/2022: Here we are about half way into Camp NaNoWriMo and I am getting deep into this book but I and feeling lost. I don’t really have an ending for this book and so I am stalled. And when I am stalled my writing feels like I am rambling. I have felt this way before, but when I go back to edit, it is really good writing. But I don’t want to force this. Yet at the same time, I need an ending. I know who my antagonist is, and he is somewhat revealed to one of the characters, but not to the MC yet. I need to bring that revelation soon, but I don’t know how to bring a resolution to the matter. It has been a while since I have been lost with an ending. But it is okay. I’ve been a Panster before. I just don’t want to ramble.

I am at a signing for The Transference right now. And sales are not what I expected them to be for this signing. A little discouraging. Maybe that is what this stall out for writing is from. But I was excited for those that did come out. I love meeting fans and that made it all worth it.

6/16/2022: Okay. I have officially entered Camp NaNoWriMo 2022 so I can get some sort of spark lit under me to get this project written. Camp NaNoWriMo is a smaller version of the official NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) which is held each November. In case you don’t remember, this is the time period that I normally write my novels. The normal NaNo sets the goal of 50K in 30 days. Camp NaNo allows you to set your own goal and will take place during the month of July. I went ahead and set a lower goal of 30K so I can still work my daily job of writing if I suddenly get busy. But the good thing is that nowhere is it written that I can not surpass that 30K goal. To date, I have written 20K in nine chapters. But, obviously, I won’t count that toward that 30K. My goal is to finish out the novel during this stint. That will have me completed by August 1. Take a break until September, then edit September and October. By then I will have it ready for publication. But not sure when that will be because Little Reminders comes out in November.

5/27/2022: I’ve been busy editing The Transference lately, but finished that today. I glanced over here and realized I hadn’t updated you on the progress with this novel in a while. Well, I am about eight chapters into it and making progress. Well, until I received the final edit on The Transference from Mike, my publisher. So I dove into that and went over it to approve and go over what changes I wanted to see. But you can read all about that here. The Five Barred Gate II is making progress. It is almost June, and I am still deliberating on how I want to progress with this. I can slow and steady it and just write it over time because I definitely want to write Little Reminders III during NaNoWriMo in November, or I can quickly write it to finish it before then. I am still not in a writing mood to get neck-deep into this story. I have it in my head, it just isn’t flowing yet. So prayer is one thing I covet from you. It may seem like a small thing, but writing is basically my job now, so I need to be focused on this to get it completed. Thank you, my friends. God Bless.

5/1/2020: Wrote into a new chapter since I last posted. Got over a dry spell. Work has kept me busy and with no energy to write in the evening. That and I have been busy building my social accounts. I think I may be spreading myself a bit thin. I am on many platforms now. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, I am now building on Medium. Juggling them all is exhausting. I try to work with Hootsuite to balance the noise. It helps with posting. but following up is crazy. I just need to get beyond the need to respond to every post. Especially on Twitter. If I would get beyond spending time there I could write more. Write this book more.

4/16/2022: Okay, the gap I realized I goofed up and created is now fixed. I am seven chapters in and feeling good about things. I am getting ideas left and right and throwing them into my journal. If these are truly for this book, I am getting intrigued about its direction. And nervous for my characters. Writing is hit and miss, I have been restructuring my website and seeing where I am going personally. After our revival services, I have been challenged to get deeper into speaking His name through what He has given me. And to stop hiding in the shadows of Jeff S. Bray Author. I think this may be something Michael may have to face as well, or even Jacob as well. I can use my journey to help write this book. I just hope I won’t have to experience what I plan to take my characters through.

3/14/2022: Well another month has gone by. If this had been NaNoWriMo, this book would have been written by now. Interesting, right? But I am oddly four chapters into it. It is going by a bit strange. I started a chapter only to realize my dates were off. I had mentioned a court date that was set only to realize that it was set for the next Monday and I had a weekend to write about. Heh. Go figure. Well, that helps because I can do some character building during those few days. And set up how Michael behaves and connects with his children. It also gives the opportunity to introduce Jacob and Ranae back into the mix. So I am excited.

2/14/2022 – I will give you a little bit of an update. I have found my nemesis. I am excited about that. He will be hidden for about half of the novel and pulling strings to make Michael’s life miserable.

The novel will open up with Rachel, Michael’s wife being arrested. For, of course, breaking a Federal Speech Law.

I am still disputing with them having twins or just a single child. I am currently writing twins, but don’t want to clutter the novel with characters. Just at the time I began writing it, twins felt right. Even the names roll off the tongue. So for now, I will write it that way.

The main character will be Michael Andrews. He is now 24, the son of Jacob and Renae. He was two years old at the time of the first novel. Michael is married with two kids, a boy, and a girl. His wife, Rachel is the granddaughter of Frank Dunham. He is the owner of the restaurant in the first novel and part of the original group that met.

The laws will have gotten stricter. Many amendments have been added to The Federal Speech Act. People are now quicker to turn someone in when they are offended. This has especially affected the religious community. Churches are sparse, even Our Saviour’s Cross, the church that was in existence at the end of TFBG has disbanded and gone into hiding again.

That’s a quick bit from what I have so far without going into spoilers. Just to say that I will be diving into the action quick.