Saturday, May 3, 2014

Adam tries to apologize ~ Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 5/4/14

Hi! Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warrior round. Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book. Then we "hop" around and leave comments on each other's snippets. Whether our work is already published or in progress, the helpful comments help us become stronger writers on our next WIP. We welcome EVERYONE's comments.

  
See more at the WeWriWa blog

Welcome to a snippet from Courage of the Heart. Courage of the Heart was originally published by Xlibris in 1999 (BEFORE they went full vanity press) - with no real marketing efforts from the publisher and before I knew much about the subject, it didn't do very well. However it was revised slightly and republished by Vanilla Heart Publishing in 2009 and has enjoyed a healthier reception.

Adam knows how badly he messed things up. He told Davie that he "can't be the first", but he can't tell her why. He's tried to apologize and Davie isn't willing to accept his regrets, she feels he's humiliated her. Davie has managed to avoid him at work, for the most part, when he suddenly shows up at her home uninvited.

          "I'm getting ready to go out, have a friend coming over," she started to push the door closed.
          He put his hand against the door to prop it open, "I promise you I won't keep you long."
          She looked at the watch on her wrist and shrugged, "keep it short."
          He followed her inside, "please Davie, take pity on me, I feel like a jerk already."
          'There's nothing I can do about that,” placing her hands on her hips Davie tried to ignore the trembling she felt inside; the same trembling she got whenever she saw him lately, "did you have anything…important…you had to say?"
          "I want to see you…"
          "Why?"
          He shrugged.
          "I'm still a virgin, Adam, so you're not interested, nothing has changed," she walked back to the door and put her hand on the knob to open it.
          "I guess I just like you, Davie," he hadn't been able to get her out of his mind. He had tried, but he hadn't even been able to bring himself to see anyone else since before the fiasco when they almost made love; that was a new experience for Adam Sherman, spending his nights alone, sitting in a movie house alone, dreaming of Davie and waking to take a cold shower…alone.

 For more WeWriWa snippets, go to www.wewriwa.com

Sometimes love is the only cure for the very deepest of emotional wounds. The story of the two lovers takes a series of unexpected and fast paced turns where lives, sanity and love are put in jeopardy. Their commitment to one another results in a spirit that binds them together and helps them to overcome physical and emotional dangers.


Looking back at this twice published work, the first time 13-years ago, I can see for myself how my writing style has changed and I hope improved. I received some nice reviews on this book so I am hoping that something in my writing way back then did work and I look forward to your comments.

From Amazon
By Gloria Antypowich
Adam Sherman is a computer expert and a womanizer who is
dedicated to "Bedding but not Wedding." When he becomes
aware of Davie Prescott, a twenty year old student who works
part time at the same place that he does, he pursues her.

Davie feels an equal attraction, but she is not an average 20 year
old. When Adam makes his move to take her to bed, she
confesses that she is still a virgin. His reaction is the exact
opposite to what she might have expected; he is not thrilled that
he is her first. In fact he pulls away in shock and says he will not
make love to her. Then he gets out of the bedroom as fast as he
can.

Davie is humiliated and angered, assuming that her lack of
experience had been a turn off for him.

Adam is still attracted to her and tries to smooth the troubled
situation between them, but she is not willing to open up to him
again. Adam has a dark secret that he has been hiding, but
eventually his past catches up to him in his work place. He shares
his secret with Davie and is shocked that she doesn't turn away in
disgust; instead she is supportive.

Then he learns that she has been hiding a secret too. They both
have deep emotional wounds, and together they help each other
come to terms with the problems that have created turmoil in their
lives. Their commitment to each other gives them the courage to
face their problems and make a new life.

I really enjoyed this book. It was fast paced, full of twists and turns,
mystery, danger and tragedy. I cared for these two characters. I
was reminded again that sometimes people have no control over
the circumstances in their lives and without love and support from
family and community, they flounder in shame and fear.

Don't miss a great read. I'll be looking for more books from
Chelle Cordero.


10 comments:

Cara Bristol said...

I feel like he's just making this worse for both of them. He should surrender to the inevitable. LOL. But then you wouldn't have a story.

Jess Schira said...

Hey Chelle, Great post. I love how layered and complicated your characters are. You've done a great job developing them. I do have to pull on my moderator hat and request that you try to limit your snippets to 8 sentences, I counted 11. The decision to keep posts to 8 sentences was made in order to maximize the number of posts participants could read during their available time. Thanks, I always enjoy reading your posts.

Unknown said...

This is such an interesting situation. He seems sort of unique as a hero.

Charmaine Gordon said...

He's in a quandry and so is she. You're going to somehow get them together. Right? I vote yes. Instead of waiting, I'm going to purchase this book and find out. So there!

Chelle Cordero said...

@Jess; eeeck! I don't know how I missed that - all my laid out plans and I obviously copied from the wrong (final) snippet. Mea culpa, I will be much more careful about sentence count in the future.

Chelle Cordero said...

@Millie; In 1999 just before going to Xlibris I sent this mss to Harlequin - in the rejection letter, although they thought the story held promise, they would not publish it because Adam was NOT the typical hero-type. This was before I realized there were other publishing companies for love stories, lol.

Anonymous said...

Wonder why he feels the way he does about her virginity.

Veronica Scott said...

I hope she gives him another chance for both their sakes and then I hope he doesn't mess up again! Interesting snippet, very emotional.

Unknown said...

Great post! I hope she keeps her strength to stand up against him. We always fall victim to our hearts when they have the right words to say.

Teresa Cypher said...

Chelle, nice job of conveying emotions in this snippet. And I agree with Cara! lol. :-)