Tom feels Cat's baby kick - Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 08/31/14

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 Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book.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 Within the Law. The protagonist, Tom Hughes, was created in His Lucky Charm (formerly called Forgotten). Tom is cousin to the female main character in HLC. I fell in love with Tom, I think he might be my favorite hero from all of my books. His character and his history was so compelling that I HAD to write his story, one in which he has his own HEA.

This scene in the courtroom lobby continues - Caitlyn is trying to reassure Tom, he is upset with the way the trial is going so far. I deleted a few sentences rather than making everything soooo run-on. This snippet opens up with Cat speaking.

(Next week you'll find out why Tom reacts so strongly.)

“Maybe the jury will be able to see through his counsel’s tactics,” she started to step back and then put her hand on her stomach in surprise. “Oops, quick, give me your hand.”

Caitlyn placed his hand on her belly. Tom chuckled when he felt the baby’s movement and laughed out loud when the baby kicked him.

Tom never noticed that Dunlop was being escorted through the lobby, Dunlop shook his escort’s hand free and stepped in next to Tom.

He fixed his gaze on Caitlyn and then turned to Tom, “the pregnant ones always squeal.” Security pulled him away.

Tom felt himself stop breathing.

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

Within the Law

Tom gave up on ever falling in love again the day that he buried his high school sweetheart and fiancé. He started a career in law enforcement just so that he could find her murderer and rapist. Just when he is about to see justice done, he meets Alli Davis-the defense attorney for the murdering rapist who took his love from him.

Amazon (print)

Amazon (Kindle)

.pdf E-Book (Payloadz)

multiple ebook formats (Smashwords)

Apple iTunes

Kobo

Hoping that wherever you are
& whatever you are doing this weekend

you have a safe & enjoyable Labor Day.

#TBT re-posting from Long and Short Reviews, July 31, 2011

Working Characters

by Chelle Cordero

Many of my characters have successful careers and work they like, sometimes love. I’ve had characters who have saved lives, written about it, drawn pictures, investigated bad guys, defended the rights of the accused, and created hype. Some of the jobs were easier to write than others because of my own familiarity with the profession or thanks to the help of someone who actually walked in those shoes.

Lon Bartlett in Bartlett’s Rule was a successful columnist. “He is a pompous ass!”, that’s how Paige Andrews describes him. Lon brags about his exploits with the fairer sex and he’s built a reputation as a “real man”. Paige is wary of falling under Lon’s spell, she questions his attitudes, she condemns his sexploits. But, they have to work together.

Paige works in the public relations department of a well-known magazine. She understands how publicity works and how images are created. Still, she sees Lon and knows that is the kind of man she wants nothing to do with.

As a writer myself, Lon’s work appealed to me and of course I understood a bit of what it takes to be a writer. During my college years I did a short stint working temporary positions – it gave me several great resume starters and a good look at the business world. One really enjoyable assignment was in the publicity department at McCall’s – I used my own experience working at McCall’s as the basis for By-Lines Publishing, the company depicted in the book.

It was really fun to relive those years…

from the introduction of Bartlett’s Rule:

“He is a pompous ass!”

When Paige Andrews is given the assignment of courting a famous writer for the publishing company she works for, she meets and entices the sexy, charming and thoroughly dangerous womanizer, Lon Bartlett.

Lon immediately takes a not-so-professional, personal interest in the young woman and pursues her. Lon is thrilled when Paige finally succumbs to his charms only to find that her haunting past sets off a terrifying reaction. Lon learns a heartbreaking reality – Paige is a rape survivor.

Will Lon be able to change his womanizing ways? Will he want to? Will Paige ever learn to trust again? Can they learn to love and live, together?

You can download a FREE sampler of

Living, Breathing, Writing: A Lesson A Day by Chelle Cordero

at http://bit.ly/qMTvLU
(includes sample chapters & writing exercises)
based on the acclaimed Living, Breathing, Writing Amazon Kindle Blog

Thanks Long and Short Reviews for allowing me to be here today!

~Chelle

Imagine That - #MondayBlogs

An older woman sits in a hospital bed more than half a century ago and watches as her late husband comes into her room in the dark of night. She is being treated for pneumonia, an often fatal illness in the 1940’s. “Have you come for me?” she asks. “No,” he says haltingly, “I’ve come for the little boy. Go back to sleep and be well, it is not your time. You will be needed,” Then he leaves. In the morning light her son comes to her, he is struggling not to cry. “Mama,” he says, “the baby died last night.” She puts her arms out to him and says, “I know son, I know.”

A young girl wakes in tears in the middle of the night. She’s just had a nightmare of a burning apartment and watched while a teenage babysitter passed two young children through the safety bars and dropped them to passerby on the street below. The baby sitter cannot fit through the bars and perishes in the blaze. Still crying the young girl is comforted by her parents as she relates her dream; she eventually falls back to sleep. Her mother has the morning news report on the television when the girl finally rises and the reporter is lauding the bravery of a teenage girl who saved the children she was watching but unable to save herself during an early morning fire. Wide-eyed the girl watches the screen as her nightmare comes back to her.

A family gathers for a young man’s coming of age ceremony. His grandmother, who died two short months earlier, was very excited and bought her gown for the event; she kept it secret from all but one of her daughters, the boy’s mother. A guest looks up from the entrée she has just been served to see the grandmother resplendent in her gown – the vision so real she is compelled to tell the daughter. The daughter pales and then smiles as the gown is described; it’s exactly the one her mother planned to wear. She shares the news with her recently widowed father and other family and they rejoice in knowing that the woman is present after all.

Impossible scenarios? Not to the individuals who experienced these. Many of us are raised with biblical stories of angels and premonitions and we allow ourselves to imagine a future filled with mental telepathy, time travel and many more fantastic things. Yet many deny the possibilities that such otherworldly and extrasensory incidents can happen, especially when they experience such events. Keeping our minds open to all possibilities can frighten some and for others they find a comfort in the visit of a past loved one or the mental communication that transcends miles. Children who haven’t been schooled in the impossible and implausible have wonderful imaginations that permit them to see imaginary friends and pretend magnificent abilities and accomplishments. As we get older and experience the derision and skepticism of those around us, we learn to deny such occurrences if only for self-preservation.

For the fiction writer, though, all things are possible. We create worlds where the strange happens, where the seemingly impossible occurs with regularity and is easily explained and accepted. A writer can build a world on paper, create made-up characters, plot unseemly and unexpected events, create heroes we adore and villains we hate and fear… and it is all in a day’s work. We write about life as we imagine, or know, it to be.

Karma Visited  by Chelle Cordero

*one of the dreams Annie has in the story, Karma Visited, is about a burning apartment and a heroic baby-sitter. This "dream" is taken from real-life. It is a dream I had as a young girl - including the news report the following morning.

About the author:

Chelle Cordero writes stories of Passion and Suspense. Vanilla Heart Publishing has published ten Cordero novels and a short-story collection: Bartlett’s Rule; His Lucky Charm; Within the Law; Courage of the Heart; Final Sin; Hostage Heart; A Chaunce of Riches; Common Bond, Tangled Hearts; Hyphema; and Karma Visited. VHP just published The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero featuring several short stories. Chelle has been writing both fiction and non-fiction for the bulk of her adult life and has been with Vanilla Heart Publishing since early +2008.

Cat is there to give support - http://www.wewriwa.com/2014/08/weekend-writing-warriors-8sunday-082414.html

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 Within the Law. The protagonist, Tom Hughes, was created in His Lucky Charm (formerly called Forgotten). Tom is cousin to the female main character in HLC. I fell in love with Tom, I think he might be my favorite hero from all of my books. His character and his history was so compelling that I HAD to write his story, one in which he has his own HEA.

Earlier in the story Tom called his cousin, Caitlyn (Cat for short) about the trial. Despite her advanced pregnancy she gets on a plane and comes to support him. Cat just arrived in town and meets Tom at the courthouse. Staying apart as they had agreed, Alli is in the lobby with the senior defense council, she watches and wonders who the pregnant woman with Tom is.

(I think I will continue with this scene for the next 2 weeks, there are some very pivotal moments...)

Caitlyn put her hand up to Tom’s cheek, “Tommy, how is it going?”

He shook his head, “It’s not good, I think this guy is going to get away with it. His lawyers have made mincemeat out of all the witnesses.” Tom sighed, “Cat, they practically had me exonerating him.”

She put her arms around his middle and hugged him, “Whether he pays or not, it’s not going to change what happened - in the long run, it doesn’t even matter anymore. If he receives a sentence, will you finally stop blaming yourself?” 

He hesitated and then shook his head.

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

Within the Law

Tom gave up on ever falling in love again the day that he buried his high school sweetheart and fiancé. He started a career in law enforcement just so that he could find her murderer and rapist. Just when he is about to see justice done, he meets Alli Davis-the defense attorney for the murdering rapist who took his love from him.

Amazon (print)

Amazon (Kindle)

.pdf E-Book (Payloadz)

multiple ebook formats (Smashwords)

Apple iTunes

Kobo

~~~~~~

Download Chelle’s audio story NOT ALONE

from this short story collection [FREE]

http://store.payloadz.com/go?id=1901650

(narrated by Wendy Tremont King)

 A fifteen minute short story in a FREE Audio-book

A Clandestine Relationship ~ Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 08/17/14

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 Within the Law. The protagonist, Tom Hughes, was created in His Lucky Charm (formerly called Forgotten). Tom is cousin to the female main character in HLC. I fell in love with Tom, I think he might be my favorite hero from all of my books. His character and his history was so compelling that I HAD to write his story, one in which he has his own HEA.

Tom brings Alli back to her place and they spend the night talking. They agree to keep their friendship outside of the courtroom a secret and to just remain good friends... there are too many complications. She tells him about her ex-husband, her family and her job. Tom can't resist kissing her, but when the kiss deepens he pulls back.

His breathing was stilted. “I’m so sorry,” he barely mouthed the words.

“No... don’t stop,” Alli tried to hold him there, “Tom, it’s been so long since a man has touched me like this.” She looked fragile, she looked as if his next touch would either break her or fortify her.

He mumbled more to himself than to her, “my timing sucks.” Why now, he thought, why now when all his memories of Joyce had been stirred up? Tom sat up on the couch; he pulled her to him and held her against his chest while he stroked her hair.

He thought about what she had just said to him, “have you been with anyone since your husband?”

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

Within the Law

Tom gave up on ever falling in love again the day that he buried his high school sweetheart and fiancé. He started a career in law enforcement just so that he could find her murderer and rapist. Just when he is about to see justice done, he meets Alli Davis-the defense attorney for the murdering rapist who took his love from him.

Amazon (print)

Amazon (Kindle)

.pdf E-Book (Payloadz)

multiple ebook formats (Smashwords)

Apple iTunes

Kobo

~~~~~~

Previous Within the Law #WeWriWa snippets:

• Introducing Tom in Within the Law
• The Acceptance
• Tom meets Alli
• The next time he sees Alli
• Tom is called to the stand
• Tom "licks his wounds"
• Tom can't avoid his attraction to Alli

Oneida County Courthouse, Rome NY

• 
  
• 
  

#ThrowBackThursday - 2010 50 Great Writers You Should be Reading

I was selected as one of the authors to be honored

in this book published by The Authors Show in 2010

"50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading" published by THE AUTHORS SHOW, is the show's first book compiling some of the best guests who have appeared on both its online radio and TV versions of the show. 

from the 2010 press release:

Chelle has eight novels published by Vanilla Heart Publishing: Bartlett’s Rule, His Lucky Charm, Within the Law, Courage of the Heart, Final Sin, Hostage Heart, A Chaunce of Riches, and Common Bond: Tangled Hearts. She has short stories in three Vanilla Heart anthologies: With Arms Wide Open, Nature’s Gifts, and Passionate Hearts; and in Forever Friends from Mandiman Press. Chelle Cordero is a freelance writer with numerous articles in regional and national newspapers and magazines. Cordero also authors a weekly online writing course Living, Breathing, Writing available by subscription through Amazon Kindle Blogs. 

Tom can't avoid his attraction to Alli - Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 08/10/14

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 Within the Law. The protagonist, Tom Hughes, was created in His Lucky Charm (formerly called Forgotten). Tom is cousin to the female main character in HLC. I fell in love with Tom, I think he might be my favorite hero from all of my books. His character and his history was so compelling that I HAD to write his story, one in which he has his own HEA.

This picks up just a few paragraphs after last week's snippet... Tom wavers between his anger at what he feels is Alli's duplicity and his attraction to her. Finally his anger wins out and he storms out of the diner in anger. BTW, Cat is his cousin, the heroine from His Lucky Charm. (Sorry, I went 9 sentences this week)

Years ago, his mother had said to him that Joyce had died, he didn’t. He felt like giving up on life back then; Tom didn’t want to leave the house or see his friends, it was just too painful. The only one he ever let close to him was Cat, he didn’t want to talk to anyone else; he just wanted to build a wall around himself and keep the outside world away. It hurt to admit it, but his mother was right, it had taken some coercing and the help of a few friends pushing him, but he’d dated since then and even had a few very satisfying relationships. He didn’t feel like he was cheating on Joyce, he was just trying to live.

He briefly had thought about showing up on Alli’s doorstep sometime just to see where things might go, when he had left her apartment last night, he was amazed at how many of his senses felt alive again, but, after today...

“Tom,” he stopped and let her catch up to him, “if we had met under different circumstances, do you...”

He took her in his arms and kissed her, she kissed him back without hesitation. Finally, they stepped apart, “Does that answer your question?”

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

Within the Law

Tom gave up on ever falling in love again the day that he buried his high school sweetheart and fiancé. He started a career in law enforcement just so that he could find her murderer and rapist. Just when he is about to see justice done, he meets Alli Davis-the defense attorney for the murdering rapist who took his love from him.

Amazon (print)
Amazon (Kindle)
.pdf E-Book (Payloadz)
multiple ebook formats (Smashwords)
Apple iTunes
Kobo

...coming soon, the audio-book of Within the Law
Listen to the Samples

#Throw Back Thursday - reposted from May 4, 2010

an interview by Kathryn Attalla

Author Chelle Cordero

as interviewed by Kathryn Attalla

Chelle has written some memorable stories over the years. Her books include Bartlett’s Rule, Forgotten, Within the Law, Courage of the Heart, Hostage Heart, A Chaunce of Riches & most recently Common Bond,Tangled Hearts. Her murder-mystery thriller, Final Sin, was published in May 2009.

I was lucky enough to steal her away from her very busy schedule to answer a few questions..

How long have you been in the business?

• It’s hard to decipher which part of “the business” started when. For a few actual dates, I had my first published newspaper article when I was just 18, but I didn’t pursue writing on a full time basis until I was pregnant with my first child; luckily since I freelanced I was able to work from home. I always said that I wanted to “grow up and become a novelist” but I didn’t have my first book actually published until 2001.

Are you a plotter or pantster?

• Definitely a pantser – I’m much too unorganized and random to do anything by outline. Besides I have a tendency to allow my characters to make their own decisions and write their own stories.

Do you write multiple drafts or barely need revisions when typing The End?

• I usually have to do only grammatical and spelling edits on my manuscripts. Since my characters write their stories I find that I rarely have much to say, I just make sure it flows.

What's a typical writing day like for you?

• Very random. I always start my day (whatever hour that may be) by checking and responding to email. Next I move on to social networking and blog updates – this takes me a few hours between email and blogging. That’s when I finally start writing, but if I am working on a deadline (most often for my non-fiction work) I deal with that first. During the “work day” I go in and out of each project as the brain functions – if I am stymied in one project I move to another to keep the words flowing.

What kind of promotion do you do and why?

• I blog, do social networking (FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace and forums), send out press releases and participate in several events which promote writers as a group (hand-outs of promo materials like cards, brochures, etc.)

How do you balance writing with the rest of your life (i.e., day job, family, etc.)?

• Ah, but that would be implying that I have balance in my life… Since my “day job” is a full time freelance writer, my romance writing fits in very well. As I said above I flit between writing projects as ideas strike. My husband’s work hours vary (he is a freelance photographer and AV technician) and my kids are independent adults and not demanding of my time – I can decide to “work” whenever I feel around the clock.

Where do you get your ideas for a romance novel?

• Life. I look around me and observe people and I let my imagination run wild. I use my own daily experiences (not necessarily all romantic!) and build on little bits. I naturally like to embellish events and stories – if nothing else, everyday becomes very interesting.

How important is it for you to have a critique partner?

• I don’t really work with a critique partner for the most part. I enjoy having someone I can bounce ideas off of – like my sister – because talking out loud sometimes brings that “aha!” moment.

If your book was made into a movie, which actors would you like to see play your characters?

• I almost always cast my characters, especially my heroes, while I am writing because it helps me to focus on the person – in A Chaunce of Riches I would want Ben to be played by Galen Gering (he plays Rafe on Days of Our Lives) and Samantha by a young Mary Page Keller.

What do you know now about writing/publishing that you wished you knew before The Call?

• I wish I had known more about marketing and promotion – my first book (the original version of Courage of the Heart) published in 2001 sold very few copies. I didn’t know how to get my name out there nor did I have a realistic expectation of what publishers and authors do to promote the stories. I’ve made it a point to learn and between my new-found knowledge and a very supportive publisher, I can certainly see the difference.

*******

*special note: Kat interviewed me on the Hudson Valley Romance Writers website in January 2010, she's given me permission to re-post this interview here.

Thanks Kat!

This is Sudah Garratti on the MEET MY CHARACTER BLOG TOUR

Thanks to the phenomenal Charmaine Gordon for tagging me, I get to highlight a character from a one of my published books. 

I chose to highlight Sudah Garratti from my EMS-themed novel, HYPHEMA.  By the way, Hyphema is a medical term referring to blood which pools in the eye after trauma.  Sudah comes from Pakistan and like many non-English speaking immigrants, American idioms are often confusing; when a threatening note arrives promising "an eye for an eye" she comments that only makes for bloody eyes.

Matt Garratti, a paramedic from New York, moves his wife and son to North Carolina to work at his dream job as a flight medic. Pakistani born Sudah, his wife, receives frosty stares and insensitive comments from their new neighbors... Matt wonders if he is pursuing his dream or bringing his family into a nightmare from which they may never wake.

1) What is the name of your character? Is she fictional?

Sudah Garratti, she is a fictional character. Her character was first introduced, in name only, in the novel Final Sin.

2) When and where is the story set?

Northeast North Carolina in contemporary times.  The story deals with real-life situations in a post 9/11 era. 

3) What should we know about her?

Sudah emigrated from her birth place in Pakistan. She met and married American born paramedic Matt Garratti while on an educational Visa in New York; she is studying to become an American citizen. They have a young son together. Matt moves his family to North Carolina to become a flight medic.

4) What is the main conflict?

Sudah’s skin-tone, clothing and Muslim faith makes her an outsider to a community that lived through the tragedy of 9/11. While most of Matt’s co-workers accept her cultural differences, there are others in their new community who find it hard to trust her. When the family is targeted with vandalism and threats, local law enforcement considers the acts to be an expected reaction to her presence and ignore the frightening seriousness and consequences.

5) What does she hope for?

Her husband and son are most important things to Sudah. She is a sincere and caring person who understands the hostility she encounters, but works very hard to be kind and compassionate to all. She wants to become an American citizen and raise her son in his father’s Christian faith so that he will be more accepted by others.

6) What is the novel’s title and where can we read more about it?

It’s called Hyphema and it is one of Chelle Cordero’s EMS-based suspense novels. Hyphema is available in print, e-book and audio and can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, AllRomance, Kobo, and other online retailers. For more detail about the book, visit Chelle’s website at http://chellecordero.com/2011/04/12/hyphema/

7) When was the book published?

The 2nd edition was published August 2013

Please go visit Charmaine Gordon's MEET MY CHARACTER BLOG which posted last week

Charmaine Gordon writes books about women who Survive and Thrive. Her motto is take one step and then another to leave your past behind and begin again. With several books and short stories to her name, she’s always at work on the next story. The books include To Be Continued, Starting Over, Now What?, Reconstructing Charlie, Sin of Omission and The Catch, and her series of Mature Romances, The Beginning...Not the End. 

To reach Charmaine onine, visit: Facebook Blog & Website Twitter Please visit authors I've tagged to introduce their characters next
Monday, Aug. 11: Susan Berry Tamara Philip

Tom "licks his wounds" - Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 08/03/14

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 Within the Law. The protagonist, Tom Hughes, was created in His Lucky Charm (formerly called Forgotten). Tom is cousin to the female main character in HLC. I fell in love with Tom, I think he might be my favorite hero from all of my books. His character and his history was so compelling that I HAD to write his story, one in which he has his own HEA.

The Senior Defense Attorney (Justin) grilled every witness and even tried to lay some of the blame on Tom in order to cast doubt about the defendant's (Roy Dunlop) guilt. Alli couldn't look at Tom in the courtroom. Later after court is recessed for the day and after he calls his cousin to talk and calm down, he goes to the motel's diner for a quick bite. While he's there, Alli approaches him and apologizes...

“Tom, I am sorry that Justin grilled you like that today...”

“He was just doing his job, get the scum buckets back out on the street, that was nice investigating work you did by the way, did he really have all that information about my cases or was some of it just lucky guesses?” He sounded cynical.

“I try to do my job thoroughly,” Alli sat back while the waitress poured her coffee and put the salad on the table, “I really can’t discuss the case, I just wanted to say that I had no idea who you were last night.” She chuckled, ”I guess I wasn’t as thorough as I thought, I never had your photo ID pulled.”

He couldn’t help but wonder if she would have smiled at him the way she did if she had known who he was the night before. “Well, I guess you were lucky that I wasn’t another Dunlop, who knows who else is out there walking the streets after some smooth lawyer got him off?”

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

Within the Law

Tom gave up on ever falling in love again the day that he buried his high school sweetheart and fiancé. He started a career in law enforcement just so that he could find her murderer and rapist. Just when he is about to see justice done, he meets Alli Davis-the defense attorney for the murdering rapist who took his love from him.

Amazon (print)
Amazon (Kindle)
.pdf E-Book (Payloadz)
multiple ebook formats (Smashwords)
Apple iTunes
Kobo

Chelle Cordero's Cousins Suspenses