Well, it's been far too long since I've posted here! I'd like to say I've been spending all this time working on
Morning Glory, but I've been distracted by the job hunt, publicity projects, books, and life. But I'm not giving up hope. While I'm certainly not as far along as I should be, I've written about 10,000 words this month, bringing my total for this first draft to about 15,000 (including the front matter, because I like to pad my word count however I can, LOL). I figure if I can write 3,000 words a day starting on Monday, I could get close to my goal and have a draft the length of
Forget Me Not. And if I don't quite make that (because I do have some other priorities), I'll just "keep moving forward," as I was reminded by watching
Meet the Robinsons tonight.
Anyway, I thought I'd share a little teaser from my first draft with you. This is an unedited snippet from around the point I left off last... It's been kind of a darker story so far, and it will continue to be so for a while, but there are moments of hope and cheer in the midst of it all. So I chose one of those moments to share, because today of all days (Easter) is all about hope! I
hope you enjoy the sneak peek. :)
***
Cresting the mountaintop, Felicity came up short. A glimpse of indigo spread before her, incredibly rich and still. Dropping Frances’s reins, she rushed past Papa and Mama, Glory, Myghal, and Helen. She ran until she came to the rocky edge and could gaze across the splendor of a lake so deep, its blue seemed to bleed from the beating heart of the earth.
The shimmery, misty morning light enclosed the mountain in a warm embrace, giving a royal sheen to the water. Felicity couldn’t tear her eyes away, not even to retrieve her journal in order to capture what she was seeing. She wasn’t sure she should even attempt to do so.
Myghal slipped beside her, his own gaze riveted on the lake. Glory came up on her other side, and the three of them stood together in awe. The moment was sweet, soft. A mercy from a deep well. And slowly, hope poured back through the cracks of her heart.
The lake was wide, but not the largest she had ever seen. And yet, its rim met the sky in a purple-blue that went on forever above and forever below. All-encompassing. The little mountain within, rising from the lake, caught her eye. Trees covered the small peak, just as trees rose like hardy survivors along the edges of the crater to her right.
“There’s Wizard Island,” Papa declared from behind her. He didn’t continue, and Felicity glanced back to see tears in his eyes. Glory tucked herself under one of his arms. From somewhere, Felicity found the courage to tuck herself beneath his other.
All was silent again, but for the moment, it felt right.
