Sunday, April 17, 2016

WeWriWa - A Heart on Hold - New Release 4/17/16

A HEART ON HOLD (AN EVERLASTING HEART #1)

Welcome to this week's edition of Weekend Writing Warriors! My debut novel just re-released and in honor of this, I would love to share with you a piece of A Heart on Hold.

Let's set the scene . . . Charlotte had said goodbye to her childhood love Lieutenant Sanderson Redding as he left to fight for the South in the War Between the States, but not before proposing to Charlotte. A rogue telegram came in from Sanderson, telling Charlotte of his impending return for sick leave. This excerpt begins as Charlotte's father, George, spots Sanderson at the edge of their yard and points him out to her.

***

Charlotte’s world moved in slow motion as she grasped her skirt in her hands and whirled about.
She gasped as she locked eyes with those, deep and hazel, of her love. He stood, reins in hand, like a statue of perfection. “Sanderson!”

In an instant, she was in his arms, grasping him around his thin waist. She turned her face up to take in every minute detail of the man she had promised to share her life with.

Sanderson’s face was gaunt and pale. Sweat stood out from his forehead in large beads and the dark circles under his tired eyes looked like shiners. 

“Even more beautiful than that day at the station,” Sanderson began as he cupped her chin in his calloused hand and smiled into the face of his beloved.

Before their lips could meet in a much-anticipated kiss, a coughing fit overcame him, leaving his lips bloody as he sputtered, wheezed, and fell to his knees. 

***
I hope you enjoyed this excerpt! You can get your copy on Amazon for $2.99 here!


I am pretty excited to be writing this post. For the first time in many, many years, a ToRnAdO made an appearance in my little corner of west Texas! My children and I were outside playing basketball and enjoying the beautiful weather when we needed a drink from Sonic. Dinner was in the oven and Sonic is just around the corner, so away we went. We were on the way back, with old fashioned cream soda drinks in tow, when hail began to pound us out of NoWhErE! Between the hail and the sudden onset of rain, conditions were nearly white-out. We pressed on, and noticed all of the other cars were pulling off to the side of the road and the hail was getting larger. Well, as some of you may know,one of my four children is my son with Asperger's Autism. 

From the backseat, I heard the niggles of an impending meltdown. So there was really only one thing to do . . .crank up some rock-n-roll and plow on through, cheering and loudly exclaiming how much fun you're having! Despite being in a complete white out and pummeled by flying boxes and branches and hail, IT WORKED. He was laughing by the time we arrived home, even though my heart was pounding out of my chest! All kids and animals are safe and dry inside, plus two baby white winged doves who were blown into the street and now call my bathroom their temporary home.

On another note, I learned tonight that The Saga of Indian Em'ly is in the running for the 2015 RONE award for best Novella! 
Reader votes are crucial in this first stage, so my publisher has lowered the price of Indian Em'ly to just .99 cents! 
Voting starts May 16th! 
If you would like an ARC, please let me know in the comments! 

23 comments:

  1. Great job building anticipation. Good luck with the Rone Award!

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  2. Started off as a lovely, touching snippet...quite a turn at the end. Well done.

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  3. His coughing up blood doesn't not bode well in that day and time. Consumption is the first thing to come to mind, although I hope that's not the case. Great way to ratchet up the tension, though!

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    1. Thanks Jenna!! I certainly put Sanderson and Charlotte through the wringer in this book!!

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  4. It's an awesome story, Sara, and I can't wait for the rest of the series! Way to build the tension, girl! LOVED IT!

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    1. Thanks Cheryl!! I'm so glad this series is being reborn with Prairie Rose!! <3

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  5. Oh dear, I hope he pulls through. Congrats on the new release!

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  6. Oh gosh! I hope he has something that is curable. A fabulous snippet! Congrats on the re-release!

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  7. This kiss did NOT end well. This sounds like tuberculosis.

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    1. I love 19th century diseases . . . my characters always suffer for it hahaha

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  8. Oh no! What a heart-stopping last line. I hope it's not terminal. Intense snippet!

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  9. Uh oh. Consumption? If so, she's lucky that kiss was interrupted. :(

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  10. Sounds like Sanderson may be out of luck. I hope he makes it through.

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  11. Oh no! You drew us in with that wonderful set-up for a happy reunion, but no, this man is ILL! Way to keep us reading at a feverish pace :)

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  12. Well, that killed the moment! Nice job, Sara.

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  13. Moving, brings tears to this readers eyes. Beautiful

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  14. Glad you and your family made it through the tornado event safely! Congratulations on the rerelease and the RONE nomination...enjoyed the snippet, even though I'm worried about Sanderson's health, and it also inspired me to go read up on telegrams during the Civil War time frame. A win all the way around!

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