Wrap Up

Wrap Up Here you will see posts about my most recent editing projects.

10/10/2024

Everything in the back of her mind, all of that professionality and maturity, kept trying to tell her that all of this was wrong. She could hear it echoing throughout her mind, but she tuned it out. It wasn’t because she didn’t care about what was right or wrong; she just didn’t agree with that part of her mind.
Using somebody was wrong, but they weren’t using each other. Showing favoritism was wrong, but she wasn’t doing that, either. Giving out favors for the wrong reason… She would never do that, either.
This wasn’t some type of quid pro quo. It wasn’t a negotiation, or even a real affair. There was no one they were going home to, expecting them to be faithful. The only ones that might look down on them were the ones who looked down at everyone from their long, pointy noses, just waiting to catch them in the act of something despicable.

-excerpted from Lily of the Valley by Jessica Horsley

05/09/2024

“What’s wrong?”
“It’s not ‘wrong’ exactly. It’s just important.” She took a deep breath. “Beck, do you remember when we talked about me giving you a real chance? A chance for us to be something more?”
“Of course.”
“Well, I’ve still been holding myself back, or trying to, at least. I… I’ve been wondering why I’m still so scared… You’ve been so amaz-ing… I don’t know if I’ve just been questioning my judgment, or what I was thinking before, but…”
He waited a second and realized that she wasn’t sure how to finish her thought. He un-buckled his seatbelt and scooted in slightly, putting them closer.
“It’s okay. What are you trying to say?”
She looked directly at him and her breath caught in her throat for a moment.
How did he still do that to her?
She leaned into him slightly, pulling them closer together.
What was so important that it was this hard for her to say? Was he missing something? Was there some sort of news that she hadn’t told him yet?
“Timea?”
“I love you.”
Tears started coming down her cheeks, but she maintained as much eye contact as she could.
“I feel like I would have always loved you, if I had just given myself the chance to. I’ve been trying so hard not to, and I’m not even sure why anymore. I just feel like…”
She coughed slightly as it became hard for her to speak.
“I’m sorry,” she squeaked.
“It’s okay.”
He scooted in a little further and she leaned against his shoulder. He pulled an arm around her as she continued to cry.
He felt like he’d been waiting his whole life for her to say those words. He had a feeling that she felt it, too, but he didn’t want to say it and not have her say it back. He couldn’t even figure out when he knew that he loved her, but he knew it now, and that was what was important.
He pulled his hand up to stroke her hair gently.
“It’s okay,” he repeated. “I love you, too.”
“I know you do.” She heaved a shaky breath. “You show me all the time… Why have I been so scared, when I could tell I could trust you? I know you’d never hurt me.”
“Of course not. Why would I want to?”
She laughed slightly against him and pull-ed her hands underneath his jacket. She gripped onto his shirt, her palms still sweaty from nerves. She wrapped her hands tightly until they were balled fists against him, holding on like her life depended on it.
“It’s all right,” he said again.
-excerpted from Burn Patterns by Jessica Horsley

24/08/2024

Gabriel stepped out onto the deck, eyeing Joyce leaning against the railing. The wind blew softly threw her long blonde hair, moving it gently in varying directions. It was getting late, and the sun was going down. He could feel her tension from where he was standing and felt it get a little stronger as he walked toward her.
He knew she could hear him, but she didn’t turn around. He pulled his long arms gently around her and she put one of her hands over his. He kissed the top of her head gently.
“Are you all right?” he whispered.
She hesitated a moment, weighing her answer. “I suppose so.”
“It’s not like it’s the end of the world.”
“I know that… I’m just disappointed.”
“I know. Me, too… but that doesn’t mean we can’t keep trying.”
“True… I guess it’s a little early to be talking about a baby, anyway. We’ve got plenty of time.”
“Yes, that’s right, and it’s not like we don’t have anything else going on in our lives. We just got started on our careers. There’s no reason to ignore that.”
She smiled weakly, almost laughing nervously to herself. She patted his hand for a second, then stood up full. She turned around, still only inches away from him. She looked up and could see the sun hitting his tan face and casting shadows almost all the way up to his dark curly hair.
“Maybe it was a mistake getting checked right before our anniversary,” she admitted.
“Maybe. I guess it being close just put it on my mind… Do we still get to celebrate tonight?”
“I suppose we should.”

This is from the opening of Split Wood, which I am finishing writing today. Hopefully it will be available for sale within the next few weeks. I will keep you posted!

27/07/2024

Picking up the knife, she wished that she wasn’t in her kitchen. She wished that nasty, cold-hearted, lecherous killer was here, standing right in front of her knife.
Without thinking about it, she hit the knife against the kitchen counter. Unable to stop, she kept hitting it, chipping away at some of the tile.
In the next room Braden heard the knocking sounds and sat up. He turned on the nearest lamp and followed the sound. She was still hitting the counter with the knife, even though tears were starting to fall down her face as she kept looking ahead.
“Bloom!” he called, but she didn’t stop.
“Bloom!” He stepped up behind her and carefully moved his hand in front of her. “Bloom, put the knife down.”
She kept crying as her voice tried to come but came out as a whimper.
“Bloom, put the knife down. It’s me, Braden. Just put it down, please. I don’t want you to get hurt. Please, put it down.”
She slowly released her tense fingers from the blade and set it on the counter. She cried harder, almost screaming out.
“It’s okay,” he soothed.
“No!”
She turned around and pulled herself into his arms, leaning hard against his shoulder. As the tears continued down her face, a couple of tears leaked out of his eyes, too.
Maybe he should stay up with her. She wouldn’t actually hurt herself, would she? It wasn’t worth the risk.
“I miss him, too,” he whispered. “I know it hurts.”
“I want him back,” she sobbed.
“I know. Me, too.”
She squeezed his back, clinging harder to him.

-excerpted from A Murder of Crows by Jessica Horsley

05/12/2023

“I must have been out of my mind. I---.”
“Peter.”
She felt heat rise to her face and ignored it.
This hurt so much, but she had to say it. She realized she wanted to kiss him again, which made her hurt more than ever, both inside and out.
She felt herself holding back, feeling like she needed a minimum of two feet of space between her and him. She knew he could see her shaking. She couldn’t get it to stop.
“Peter, I’ve got to tell you something.” Her jaw quivered for a moment, but she stopped it. “That night… I wanted you to kiss me.”
She saw his eyes light up with surprise, mixing with a hint of confusion.
“You did?”
“Yes. I… I’m sorry that I had been avoiding you before and… I can’t believe I’m saying this.”
“Just take your time. It’s all right.”
“I’ve been fighting what… I’ve been feeling for you… for a while. Maybe I should have told you. I thought maybe… I could get it to stop.”
She felt the impulse to cry and held it in.
She wanted to, but she couldn’t, not until she had said everything she needed to. She didn’t want him to stand there and watch her blubber.
“I…” she continued, “...am really confused right now.”
“I understand.”
“I just don’t want you to think that… any of this is your fault. All of the fights both of us have been having with Gabriel… that’s not on you. I’m not mad at you at all. I… Oh, my God.” She gathered her breath as best she could.
“It’s all right.”
“I probably can’t think of everything I want to say right now. I just want you to realize that… anything I say to you in… I can’t do this!”
-excerpted from Split Wood

05/12/2023

Stephen was kind of cute in an intellectual way, but she was sure that he didn’t see himself that way. His smile made her feel warm all over. His gentle disposition made him easy to talk to, even for her.
She’d been experiencing so much anxiety lately, between the move and still worrying about making ends meet. She’d already gone through the last five years of struggling financially. Sometimes she just wanted to be alone, but she’d still always make time for Ian when she could. As much as she loved her sister, it was still a little embarrassing for her that she had to move in with her, almost like she couldn’t survive on her own.
For being his neighbor, Theresa didn’t seem to know much about Stephen, at least not yet. She supposed they might have just been someone to talk to occasionally, as acquaintances, but it made her wonder if she knew more about him… She wasn’t sure why she cared. Something about him was interesting… but she shouldn’t be prying.
-excerpted from The Day the Earth Split in Two by Jessica Horsley

05/12/2023

“You still haven’t mentioned anything about what happened the other day.”
“That’s because I don’t want to talk about it.”
“what am I supposed to do? Pretend that it didn’t happen?”
“Yes.”
“Fatema!”
She swallowed hard before answering. “Look, if you can’t already tell, I am really embarrassed about what happened.”
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“Oh, really? How is that?”
“I like you and you like me.”
“That’s not the point!”
“Are you trying to tell me that how we both feel doesn’t matter?”
She took a deep breath. “Gerald, you know why I… Do you want a different attorney?”
“No.”
“Then nothing can happen, at least for now.”
“Well, how long am I supposed to wait?”
She didn’t answer.
“Fatema, I don’t want to keep myself from you just because---.”
“I know! I know and I’m sorry. I’m not saying it doesn’t hurt me, too, but I can’t do this! It’s wrong. I respect you too much to just find you another attorney. Besides, it’d take them too long to get caught up.”
“You’re not just my attorney. I thought we were at least friends, too.”
“We are. I… I don’t know what you want me to tell you.”
-excerpted from Oil Lamps

05/12/2023

Sandy. She missed him very much, but she still had to accept that he was gone. It was hard to think that Skyler had never been able to see him, and that he’d never be able to see his own son. He looked a lot like him. Every time she looked at him, she could see parts of him there.
She could feel herself wanting Gideon, not just physically but emotionally. Why did that feel so wrong? She wasn’t cheating on Sandy; he was just gone. Everything felt too soon, like she was supposed to just keep mourning… but for how long? A year? Two? Five?
Was she just punishing herself now, trying to tell herself that she had a mandatory mourning period of x number of years? She would always miss Sandy, but she had to go on living, anyway…
-excerpted from Ash Covered Doors

05/12/2023

She wasn’t the tyrant that almost everyone tried to claim that she was. She was stronger than she looked, yes, and obviously motivated. She was intelligent and dynamic. People tried to say that she didn’t have a heart, but he knew that wasn’t true. She was just used to having to cover it up. That couldn’t be easy for anybody.
He liked his job, but he could barely imagine how much stress she must be under all the time. He had met some of the boys from corporate. They were all chauvinists. It was almost hard to believe that she still had her job. She must have had to work as hard as she could to gain one molecule of trust from any of them. They probably still didn’t trust her fully.
He kind of hoped that she didn’t bring the kiss up again. It sounded like she didn’t want to talk about it, anyway. It would be a touchy subject, no matter what way they went about it. Anything that she was, or wasn’t, feeling, she obviously didn’t want to bring up. He just wished he could stop feeling so drawn to her. It might make it easier.
-excerpted from Damaged Upon Impact

05/12/2023

She found herself squinting as the lights changed inside the car, making it hard for her to focus.
There was less traffic in here tonight than she remembered seeing before.
There are a few faces around, but none of them are familiar. None of them look up when they see her get in.
No one has come in behind her. Then again, it’s late. It might be too late for some people.
Everyone appears to be glued to something: a book, a magazine, their mobile device. No one is looking up. She debates on whether to sit or stand. Thinking about how long the minutes will feel, she sits down.
She takes in a deep breath and finds the sound too loud. She submits to breathing more softly and lets her ears focus on the sound of the train moving across the tracks again. As it picks up speed, she feels the familiar lull of the train as it rocks her gently, almost like a child in a crib.
When she listens hard enough, she can almost hear the people outside the train from far away. The ones moving across different junctions, trying to find the right streets, trying to make their way home… wherever that might be for them.
-excerpted from "Door to Nothing"

05/12/2023

He managed to pull the car into over in front of the diner. There were no real parking spaces, so he just found a spot. There were a surprising number of cars here.
He scanned across the side of it, but he was unable to read what the name of it was. He killed the ignition and turned the lights off. He opened the car door with a squeak and stepped out. His nose was assaulted with the familiar smell of damp grass.
He reminded himself that if he kept her inside that trunk long enough… it would smell a whole lot different out here. He should try not to worry about that for the moment. He would be okay now. No one had any way of knowing. No one would know him out here, either.
He felt a gust of wind that was cold enough to make him shiver. He looked around. There were clouds that had formed overhead, making the sky overcast. He didn’t see any other signs of rain yet, but the night had cooled down.
He looked down at his scant under shirt that he had thrown on, along with his faded jeans.
He probably should have grabbed a jacket, too, but he was in such a hurry, that…
He heard a roar in the distance, but it wasn’t thunder. It sounded more like a motorcycle. He didn’t see anything but the lights from the diner. When he listened a couple more seconds, though, he could hear voices coming from inside.
He couldn’t hear what any of them were saying, but it sounded happy, like maybe somebody inside was having a good time. A bit of a hot spot for the middle of nowhere.
-excerpted from "Death Date"

05/12/2023

“Hello?”
“Sarai?”
“Yes?”
“Are you busy?”
She sighed. “Kind of. I’m looking at somebody else’s sketches. They’re thinking they might need help, too… Do you need something?”
“Do I need something? Can you just tell me what the hell happened the other day? I’m sorry if you felt like I was rushing you, but---.”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what is wrong?”
She hesitated. He could hear her breathing heavily on the other end.
“Why can’t you just talk to me?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“How do you know that if you don’t tell me? Are you afraid of me?”
“No, of course not. It’s… it’s not you.”
“Are you saying it’s you? What about you?”
“Jeff… there’s a lot about me you still don’t know.”
“Then tell me.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“You wouldn’t believe me, anyway… Even if you did… you don’t want to know.”
“Sarai… maybe I should have been clear about this earlier, but… I care about you. I want to help.”
“I appreciate the thought, but I don’t think you can help… Nobody’s been able to help me.”
“Do you have a creative block?”
“What? No, no, it’s… a little more personal.”
“Were you abused?”
“No, no, it’s probably nothing like you’re thinking.”
“Sarai, I can’t help if you don’t tell me.”
She paused again. “I don’t want to say it over the phone, please.”
“All right. When can we meet next?”
-excerpted from Within Our Souls

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