It's WeWriWa time!

Click www.wewriwa.com for more information and to see other 8 Sentence Sunday posts.

This post is part of an ongoing blog hop hosted by Weekend Writing Warriors. Every Sunday, participating authors post eight sentences from a published work or even a WIP (work in progress). Then we hop to our fellow warriors’ blogs and check out all the fabulous fiction that’s happening! It's a great way to meet readers, writers, and your next favorite book!  :)


For the month of September, we will be reading excerpts from The Shelter Director, Jen's story in the Loving Her series.

Shy, quiet, humble – Jen is the kind of person that would give you the shirt off her back and then ask you what else you need. She may not be a movie star, but she’ll treat you like one. She works diligently to help save cats. She sacrifices her life and stability to accommodate her partner. She gives until it hurts, and her reward is a devastating diagnosis. What will her life become?


Background on the snippet: Fred encouraged Jen to go speak to the ballerina (Liz). Jen is beyond petrified - she's never done anything like this. She somehow musters up the courage to actually talk to her. When Jen finds out that the ballerina and her company are touring and won't be around for much longer, desperation kicks in.

     She hesitated for a moment. This was her one and only chance. She didn’t think the dancer would even pay attention to her. But there she was. This moment rested in Jen’s hand. Afraid of speaking and also afraid of losing her one and only chance, she somehow mustered the courage to speak.”I was wondering if you’d like to go out to dinner. Maybe have a local show you around?”

I hope you liked it!

Happy reading!

2015 A to Z Challenge: Pianissimo - Day 14 (N)

For the third consecutive year, I am participating in the A to Z blog challenge.
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

This year, we're going to go through my latest full-length novel, Pianissimo.

Two weeks in, and we are up to the letter N. N is for night. I'm actually going to talk about how time of day or night plays an important role in the story.

There are a few really good - and very important - nocturnal scenes.  

In one such scene, we are introduced to Agnes as just the vision of a woman's silhouette in the darkness of night. This scene originates as one of Corinne's dreams, but we revisit and relive it later on in the story.

In another, we see the story take a tremendous turn the night of the school's holiday party. Agnes and Margaret walk out one evening to make an appearance at the holiday party. Still seen as an unusual pair of single friends, Agnes feels the need to go to keep in the good graces of the powers that be in their school district. They plan it being a short visit, and it is exactly that when Clarence decides to speak to Margaret. In this scene, not only are we introduced to Clarence, we see the story take a sudden, dark turn.

There's also the very powerful scene of Agnes and Margaret leaving the movie theatre hand-in-hand, when they are confronted by an unknown man. With all of Agnes's strength and wit, she cuts him down to size by telling him that she has poor night vision, and that is why she is holding Margaret's hand. What's interesting is that this scene is the only time when Agnes' vision is discussed. Does she truly have poor night vision, or was that simply a lie to get that man away from them? What do you think?

Just as we deeply ponder the meanings of the people and events in our lives in the darkness of night, I will leave you to contemplate those thoughts and questions.

Indeed, N is for night.

http://www.amazon.com/Pianissimo-Lauren-Shiro-ebook/dp/B00OEOTZMC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420832795&sr=8-2&keywords=lauren+shiro

2015 A to Z Challenge: Pianissimo - Day 1 (A)

Happy April Fools' Day, folks!

For the third consecutive year, I am participating in the A to Z blog challenge.
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

This year, we're going to go through my latest full-length novel, Pianissimo.

So, let's get started!



A is for Atyical.

Pianissimo is an atypical story for me. I had never written a paranormal story before. I also haven't read a heck of a lot of paranormal stories. I was really going out on a limb, but I felt compelled to write this story. It needed to be told. So I gave it my best shot. I don't think it turned out too poorly for a novice paranormal writer. And it seems that readers agree! On Amazon, Pianissimo currently has an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars! :)

I'm glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and wrote an atypical story. I hope you are, too!

I hope you liked our first letter! I think it's a good start to the A to Z Challenge. So for now, happy reading!


http://www.amazon.com/Pianissimo-Lauren-Shiro-ebook/dp/B00OEOTZMC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420832795&sr=8-2&keywords=lauren+shiro