More WeWriWa action from The Peace Officer

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!  :)


Happy #8SentenceSunday! This month, our WeWriWas will be from The Peace Officer, Brynn's story in the Loving Her series.

Brynn Racanelli is a daughter, a sister, a friend, a partner, a police officer, and so much more. Devoted to serving others through her police work, and to helping her sister who battles chronic Lyme Disease, she is the the poster child of selflessness. But she does have wants, needs, hopes, and dreams. After the sad ending of a long term relationship, she wonders if she will ever be able to get what she wants. Will fate finally bring her the life and love she’s always dreamed of?


Background on the snippet: Brynn is taking a leisurely stroll through the streets of Philadelphia. This is her first encounter with Donna, but she doesn't realize that yet. This snippet has been edited to fit 8 sentences.


As she strolled down the sidewalk, she walked past one of her favorite cafes. The women at one table really caught her eye. A butch woman in a mechanic’s shirt and jeans sat across from a blonde with curly hair. The blonde wasn’t overly feminine either. She had a strong jaw line and stunning blue eyes. She showed off her muscular build in a black tank top and dark blue jeans that hugged her hips and legs in all the right ways. She was…hot. Brynn couldn’t keep her eyes off her.

Hope you liked it!
Happy reading!

Pianissimo Page 69 Trial

In celebration of the release of Pianissimo, here is the excerpt for the page 69 trial. After reading this, you might just want to get your hands on a copy! ;)

“Margaret!” Agnes called from the other bedroom. “Come see what I just found!”
Margaret walked in from the living room.
Agnes stood proudly in the closet door frame holding up a pair of black trousers.
“What…?”
“They’re pants! These are my father’s trousers!” She looked down at them. “I can’t believe they’re here. I
had no idea. I thought all of his belongings were long gone.”
“What do you intend to do with them?”
“Well I think I should wear them!”
“What?” Margaret laughed.
Agnes pulled the pants on under her dress.
Margaret laughed hysterically. “Now that, my love, is quite the fashion!”
“I agree. It is all the rage in Paris!”
“I could only imagine.” Margaret chuckled.
Agnes began walking around the room. “I must say, I do quite like this.”
“You do?”
“It would be better with just a blouse rather than this dress. This is comfortable, though.” She sat in the chair. She sat with her legs open and she leaned back in the chair. “So this is what it feels like to be a man! Oh this is so much better than having to act like a dreadful lady. You may sit anyway you choose. You may slouch. You need not worry about posture or appearing inappropriate. Oh this is wonderful! You should try it, Margaret. I think you shall enjoy this as much as I.”
Margaret chuckled again. “I’m not quite so sure of that. I think I shall leave you to be the man. I am quite comfortable as I am.”
Agnes quickly pulled the pants off, bundled them up and tossed them at Margaret. “Spoil sport!” She teased.
Margaret leaned back in laughter. “Oh you are too much!”
“Shall we keep them, then? You may parade around the house as Michael, not Margaret.”
Again Margaret burst into laughter. “Oh sweet Agnes! This is why I love you so! Only you could make me laugh like this.”
Agnes walked over and kissed Margaret on the forehead. “And this is why I love you so. You laugh at my silly humor and you understand me like no one else can.”
Margaret looked up and smiled at her. “We truly are two of a kind.”
“Indeed. We are perfect together.” Agnes smiled back.

Dear Diary,
Today was brimming with news. We – or at least I – felt inundated with change.
First, the day brought us an unusual situation. Nathaniel Adams, Lacy’s husband, came over. He apologized for his wife’s behavior. Multiple times, actually. He seemed so genuinely embarrassed, saddened and apologetic. They clearly had a difference of opinion about us.
He called on us to see if Margaret would be willing to let bygones be bygones and to teach their children, Richard and Abigail, how to play the piano.
Margaret, being the wonderful woman that she is, was more than happy to provide lessons for them.
He was so appreciative of her kindness. He’s a good man. How he ended up with such a hag as herself, I do not know or understand. It’s wrong and hateful of me to say such things, I know. Our conversation today has really changed my perspective on their family, and on her.
Regardless, he is a good man, and Margaret will gladly educate his children. Perhaps this will change Lacy. Even more hopefully, this could possibly bridge a friendship between her and us.
In other news, the war has finally come to an end. A second world war. How tragic that our world has turned into this. Dictators killing people. Countries attacking and controlling other countries. Hatred, fear, propaganda, massacre. Sad, so tragic and sad. All I can do is shake my head, for I can’t even fully understand how things have come to this.
What changes – both good and bad – we have experienced in our lifetimes. Two world wars. Airplanes and automobiles becoming common household and commonly used items. Technological changes like radios and moving pictures. Prohibition. From the Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression. We have seen it all.
Truth be told, I worry about the future. We have watched such horrible and brutal acts like those of Hitler and Stalin. If our world today can create such monsters, what else lies ahead?
I’m quite happy the war is over. It is nice to be able to breathe and not worry about friends and loved ones who must see the atrocities of war. One less thing to fret about, I suppose. I pray that this peace is one that lasts not just for decades, but for centuries. May this bring the end of such death, anger, and evil. 
Thankfully, the news of the day was all good. It was different, but all so wonderfully positive. I suppose all of this news proves that every day does prove to be an adventure. With that thought, I shall retire and see what tomorrow will bring.
Until then, good night.
Agnes.

Darryl and Corinne Richards purchase their first house. With Darryl’s army career coming to a close, they feel ready to settle down in Louisville, Kentucky. With impeccable timing, Darryl is sent on one final tour, leaving Corinne to live in this new house and new city alone. 

Overwhelmed, Corinne becomes reclusive, living a quiet, boring life with her cats as she adjusts to her new surroundings. The problem is: someone or some thing does not want her life to be either quiet or boring. And then there’s the creepy piano in the basement… 

There is more to that creepy, dilapidated piano and her new home than Corinne could ever imagine. Through highs and lows, twists and turns, she begins to understand that even the most softly played music is powerful – and that even soft realizations and quietly subtle changes can have a profound effect. 

"So much to enjoy! The stories flow together so beautifully, I felt transported back in time to peek into Agnes and Margaret’s deep and abiding love for each other, and back to the present day to be with Corinne as she investigated the house she and her military husband bought just before he shipped out for his last tour of duty. Exciting and wondrous exploration of a time and situation, written with grace and delightful style.” -Shay Norgaard-Melton                                                                                                    

Get your copy here!  http://www.amazon.com/Pianissimo-Lauren-Shiro/dp/0692310819/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413984212&sr=8-1&keywords=lauren+shiro

This blog post is to tell you....

Happy Thursday, kids! Once again, the week winds down and we look towards the weekend for rest, relaxation, and fun.

So what do I have planned for you today?




Well, today, I have an announcement to make. And that announcement is...

...That I have a big announcement coming up soon!

I have some REALLY big news. Like REALLY big. Seriously. Seriously, really big news. I mean it.

So stay tuned: Same bat channel, same bat time. You are going to be blown away! Do NOT miss this. Keep your eyeballs peeled for my big announcement.

Until then, happy reading!!!  :)

On Climaxes & Resolutions

Good morning! I took the day off yesterday so we could have a family day. It was really nice. :)

Anyhoo, today we're talking about climaxes.




Get your minds out of the gutter, folks! I don't mean it like that! LOL. No, we're talking about climaxes & resolutions in stories. Sorry to disappoint you. ;)



Ok, as we all know, the climax is the high point of your story. That should be the point of the most intense action or emotion. You can have small build ups along the way, but the climax is the highest point in your story. Those little incidents should help contribute to the larger climax. Your entire story needs to build up to that very moment.




How do you do this? Well, first off, it's important to know how you want your story to end and go from there. I have a strange way of writing and that is from both the beginning and the ending and then working my way towards the middle from both ends. It helps me to build a good climax because I already have the resolution written out. That gives me the ability to foreshadow and really build up the story line to an intense point. Even if you don't have your ending completely written out, as long as you have a vague idea of how you want your story to end, you can figure out all of the events and emotions that lead to your climax so you can end it with the resolution you want. Does that make sense?


I'd really love to reference Unbreakable Hostage right now because the climax of that book is really strong and I could break it down for you. However, that would not do me any good as it would ruin the point of my book sales! LOL. :)





So, let's just imagine you have a good love triangle story that leads up to two men fighting over the same woman. Every event and interaction these characters have had throughout the book have led to this confrontation. These two men are in this situation, emotions are running high and they just go at each other. They're screaming, punching, whatever. The fight needs to be detailed and intense. If your climax is...well, anticlimactic, then you're doing your readers and yourself a huge disservice.





Make that scene as strong, detailed and suspenseful as you can. This is it. The height of your story has to be high, otherwise you might as well have no climax at all. So really describe how they're breathing on each other during the fight, their grunts, the sweat pouring off their bodies, etc. When I wrote the climax to Unbreakable Hostage, I actually choreographed the scene (as best I could since it was just me). Use your own physicality and physical abilities to help the scene. The more detailed and realistic it can be, the better!



Now that brings us to resolutions. Technically, the resolution of the story comes right after the climax and shouldn't be too long. BUT,it is important that you tie up all the loose ends. You can't just have a climax and leave your reader wondering what happened to character x. Do they live or die? Are they in the hospital? Do they live happily ever after? What happens about this event?




You get my point. My resolution in Unbreakable Hostage is a couple of chapters plus the epilogue. Is it slow and boring? No. I'll tell you why. Because every loose end, every character, every detail is tended to in my resolution. My reader does not wonder about any of the characters. They know what happens to them all. Now, just like life, you could really carry the story on from where I end it, but the story ends where it needs to end. It does not need to go on any further. I don't want to bore my readers, and I certainly don't want to make this as long as War and Peace. Nobody wants to read a book like that.



So, be detailed in your resolution. Don't leave your readers hanging, but be sure that you get to the point. We (the readers) are catching our breath after the climax, but we really don't want to be bored to tears afterwords, k?



So build, build, build your story to an incredible height, and then tie everything up and end it nice and neatly.

All I want for Christmas is...

Not my two front teeth. I already have those, but thank you any way.



No, what I want is PROPER GRAMMAR!

That's right folks, the grammar nazi in me is coming out.





Grammar is a pain in the arse, I know. It's annoying to have to remember different rules, tenses, pronouns, adjectives. YUCK! I know. It's boring.

It is important to remember, though, that proper grammar is the foundation for any good story. Now granted, in our modern society, we do actually end sentences in propositions. Even I have done that. Especially when in the context of dialogue, that's fine! I think it's important to remember rules like that, though, so you don't end every sentence on the word "to." Oooh, I just got a shiver. LOL



Grammar does not have to be boring, believe it or not. I'm gonna use a football analogy here, ok? Football is great. It's a fun sport, it's intense. It just rocks. But, there are rules in football, aren't there? Haven't you ever heard of "holding," "unnecessary roughness," and all those other glorious football terms? We've all seen those stupid little yellow flags go flying onto the field. Why? Because the players have to go by the rules.




Writing is OUR game. But we can be called out on a foul if we use improper grammar, people. Just like the players know what they can and cannot do, we need to be aware of the rules of grammar so that we keep our game honest. Fair?

When I was in college 100+ years ago, we got a small spiral bound book. "A Pocket Style Manual" by Diana Hacker. this little book is our play book, folks. You need help with sentence structure, vocab, anything? This book has it! I have held on to it all these years because it is key to writing GOOD stories. I also have a dictionary of synonyms, antonyms and homonyms. Your desk should not be cluttered with reference books. Just have a dictionary, the pocket manual & perhaps the book of synonyms, antonyms & homonyms like I do. Those are really the only three things you should ever use regularly as a writer. Don't dimsiss these play books. They can REALLY help you to improve as a writer.



With the new year fast approaching, make a r4esolution to improve your grammar - and your writing! ;)

Writing and the Subconscious

Today, class, we are going to discuss writing and the subconscious.



Writers write for a reason. Not just are we here to tell stories, but our minds are filled with memories and emotions that are expressed through our writing. Things we may not even be aware of, are expressed through our work.

I read, re-read, re-re-read, re-re-re...Well, you get the point.



There are elements in ALL of my stories that I am not even aware of. I will read those sections and ask myself why that's in there. Sometimes I know, sometimes I don't. For whatever reason, though, they are there. My brain needed those words, that situaton, those emotions to be there. So they are.

Let me give you some examples.

Loving Her


Ok, in Loving Her, Katie & Linda's story has quite a bit in there.
First off, there is "Every Rose Has its Thorn" playing. Yeah, I dig me some good old 80's rock. Anyhoo, Originally that came about because that "Monster Ballads" cd commercial was on TV when I began writing. Then at the end you can see that even Katie has her own thorn (Gasp! Not our precious little Katie! Yep, guys. The same. She does. If you haven't read Loving Her yet, I suggest you do so in order for all of this to make sense).


Also in Loving Her, there is the incredible scene between Linda and Katie's parents. I had an image on Linda on her knees & not moving, but I didn't know why. The scene actually wrote itself. That scene is extremely important to me. I've been lucky in that I never experienced anything to that degree, but my subconscious mind had all of that stored away & it just became the scene between Linda & the Wolfes. Kind of crazy, huh?


Unbreakable Hostage


Ok, this book is CHOCK full of subscious matter!

First off, there's the whole "X = 2" thing. Not quite sure WHY my brain did that, but it did. And X does, in fact, equal two! Weird, but it's what my mind needed.


Lareina's religious beliefs really come into play as well. She is, like most Hispanics, a Catholic.

Now, I was raised in a Catholic home & there are some traditions I love, but I am far from a practicing Catholic. Why did I make her Catholic, and why did I make Catholicism so important to her? I have NO freakin' clue! But my subscious does! ;)

So what does all this tell us?

Well, first off, it tells us that writing is more than meaningless words. Whatever book you're reading - or writing - right now, has more meaning behind it than you may ever realize.

As well, when you're writing: let yourself be free! Let your characters, settings, and situations surprise you. Don't control every breath they take. Have you ever tried to control a cat? Yeah, ain't happening, right? Exactly. Our characters are living, breathing people too! Let them do what they need to do. We as writers, are the VESSELS for these stories to be told, not some controlling omnipotent deity. Brear that in mind every time you write. You might just surprise yourself (and clear your subconscious at the same time)!

Foreshadowing

Writing is a very unique art form in that it gives us the opportunity to do something that no other art form, not even life itself, does: foreshadowing.



Foreshadowing is the fine art of dropping hints, whether subtle or grand, throughout your book to warn your reader of what is yet to come.




All writers do it, whether intentionally or not. Some foreshadows are so small, you may miss them. While others may be blatant and impossible to ignore. Regardless, foreshadowing is actually quite vital to the story - any story, every story.

Speaking for myself (because every writer is different, and I can't speak for anyone else), foreshadowing is something that I unconsciously do. I have literally surprised myself with my own foreshadowing. I write things (numbers, events, locations, etc.) and I don't even realize that it is my mind putting in those details that are vital to the story. For example, Lareina (Unbreakable Hostage) has a license plate that says "x equals two." I wasn't sure why x had to equal two, but it did. As I was writing the story, I just knew that this had to be integrated into the story line. I'm not the greatest mathematician, hence my "job" as a writer. Anyway, it took me a while, but then it all just made sense. All the numbers fell into place. And yes, x does in fact equal two. I wasn't proud of myself (as in "Hey, I'm just THAT good"), but I was excited and impressed that my mind knew about this all along. I didn't expect it to work out. I had always thought that "x equals two" wasn't that important. But it was. It is! I can't tell you any more than that. Unbreakable Hostage is due to come out in February, so just wait till then! ;)



So the point is: as readers, we need to pay attention to every detail; as writers we need to pay attention to every detail. Foreshadowing is fun for both readers and writers. So go, let your mind run free and who knows what kinds of interesting foreshadows you'll end up with!
(Like my crappy Photoshop job? :) )