Six Sentence Sunday

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The Gasquet Princes ~ Book 2

It didn’t take Henri long to pick up Liam’s eagerness to share and explain his enthusiasm for the farm and training the horses used to help disabled children. He supposed that at some time he’d heard of such things, but as he watched Melanie, and occasionally Monica, working with them, their joy transmitted itself to him.

Several volunteers gave their time to the charity, but it was watching Monica working with the children that soothed his soul and taught him there was far more to life than the meetings, duty, and ceremonies he’d immersed himself in so far.


The children loved her. And she reciprocated the emotion. It flowed around the arena when she worked, echoed in the children’s laughter each time they achieved a new goal.

Please hop on over to SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY to read more fabulous snippets on offer this week.

Sweet Saturday Sample

Thanks to everyone who visits me on Sweet Saturday Samples and I truly appreciate your comments. 
After diverting further into the story to give you a real Valentine smaple last week, I am hopping back to Henri's reappraisal of his enforced holiday at his brother and sister-in-law's riding school for disabled children.

The simplicity of Christmas at the farm had appealed to Henri. The joy of seeing it through the eyes of his three-month-old nephew, Jonathan, intrigued him, and brought a new magic and meaning to the day. Yes, they’d exchanged presents and stuffed themselves motionless with the awesome food Melanie prepared. It was, he knew, a Christmas that would ever remain as one of his most precious memories.

He’d expected to chafe at the lack of a filled schedule. Had wondered what he’d do with himself during this enforced period of inactivity, and laughed at the absurdity.

True, for the first few days, the disruption of his life, coupled with the re-entry of Monica into his orbit, stoked both his fury and sense of disconnection. Used to a life of routine with every moment accounted for, it took several days to acclimatise to the rhythm of the farm.

The sight of his brother’s joy filled him with an unknown sense of yearning he couldn’t identify. Heck, his life was all mapped out for him. One day he’d step into his father’s shoes, marry the woman his parents chose for him, sire the required heir and a spare, and—

His steps faltered, and he reflected back over the last few weeks, since his arrival.

Astsraea Press said 'Yes'

A few months ago, stuck on a WIP, I opened a new doc and started writing. 


These two characters turned up, Liam, a European prince, and Mel, his body guard.  (This was a couple of days after 'The Royal Wedding' of William and Kate!)


My heroine, Mel, suggested the title From Now Until Forever.


I ended up with a short story of 3.5k, and put it through the online crit group I belong to.  All said, 'Not long enough'.  I sat on it until a friend nudged me towards the chance of submitting a 5k story for an anthology.  I went back to From Now Until Forever, wrote, rewrote, chopped, and stiched then submitted.

Another friend read this effort and said, 'Not enough, make it longer', so I did.
 
And with a lot of help, I wrote, and I cut and I stitched and low and behold it exceeded the 15k I thought I'd struggle to reach. I then submitted it to Astraea Press.

Last week, Astraea Press said 'yes'. 

And I'm happy dancing!