Saturday's Excerpt from Ancient Awakening plus blurb Annie's Heart by Barbara Edwards

Ancient Awakening by Barbara Edwards


Paranormal

In Ancient Awakening, Police Officer ‘Mel’ Petersen investigates a death only she believes is murder. By disobeying direct orders from the Rhodes End Chief, she risks her career to follow clues that twist in circles to her backyard and lead the killer to her.

Her neighbor Stephen Zoriak is a prime suspect. Steve worked for a major pharmaceutical company where he discovered a weapon so dangerous he destroys the research. He is exposed to the dangerous organism. He suspects he is the killer and agrees to help her find the truth.

In the course of their investigation Mel and Steve find the real killer and a love that defies death.



Excerpt:

Legend gave him many names, but the wide halls of his mountain retreat no longer echoed with countless worshipers. He could have ruled the world had his ambition not died with the passage of time. The endless whispers were from the cold winds and the few praying priests. He didn’t care that he couldn’t remember his real name or birthplace.

For an eon he’d regretted the loss of softer emotions. Love had been the first feeling to die, along with the woman who had insisted he would never harm her. He couldn’t recall her features just the merry tinkle of her laughter and the bright smile she had greeted him with every morning. He licked his lips. She’d tasted sweet.

Fierce need flared in his gut and he sniffed the air. Outside his chamber a single acolyte in long brown robes waited to escort him. His mouth curved with a mirthless smile. The silent servants had ignited the flickering wall torches. Shadows jumped and shivered in the drafty halls like nervous virgins.


Barbara Edwards

The Wild Rose Press: Ancient Awakening, a Black Rose


Annie’s Heart by Barbara Edwards

Historical Romance from WingsEpress

ISBN 978-1-59088-210-5 Ebook

ISBN 978-1-59088-806-5 Pod

316 pages

Available at http://www.wings-press/Bookstore/Annie’s%Heart.html

Read more excerpts at www.barbaraedwards.net

Only two coins and a gold pendant heart separate widowed Annie Moss from disaster. The fields need to be plowed, the barn repaired and food stored for the winter, but she is alone and afraid. Her dream of a home for her children hangs from the promise of a wandering man to keep moving on, a man she has no reason to trust.

Trace Randolph has lost everything except his honor, so when a desperate Annie saves his life he knows he must pay his debt, even if it means marrying her. The only promise he makes is to leave before the winter snows. A promise he finds impossible to keep.

"... Barbara Edwards creates a romance that proves life is about surviving disaster. Growing back stronger, and most of all, the courage to love." **** (four stars), Gerry Benninger, Romantic Times Magazine


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Friday's How She Does It featuring Barbara Edwards

Welcome guest Barbara Edwards. She's telling us how she approaches a story.
Janet: We all know there are six elements in writing fiction and often fact. Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. I believe the first five lead to the sixth which for me is the plot. What's your take on this?


Barbara: In my opinion, plot is more important. A good plot is the starting point for character building, emotional tension and suspense. The plot is a curve that draws you from the starting point upwards. Building the story with details, you reach the crisis and fall to the conclusion. I regard the plot as weaving all the separate strands of my story into a tight braid.



Janet: How do you create your characters? Do you have a specific process?

Barbara: My initial characters appear in my dreams. Building my characters is like getting to know a new friend. Their first scene is our introduction. I learn about them as I write. Ancient Awakening, my paranormal romance, began with a nightmare about the cemetery next to the house where I grew up.

As to process, unlike many writers, I use a book bible instead of character sheets. I record the details as I go rather than coldly describing each detail ahead of time. I did try that. I found my style doesn’t work that way.



Janet: Do your characters come before the plot? Do you sketch out your plot or do you let the characters develop the route to the end?

Barbara: I guess you’re asking if I’m a plotter or a pantster, I’m definitely a pantster. It makes me laugh to remember when I first became serious about writing. I thought all the pundits knew more than me and I should use their methods. Outlining? Character sheets? I tried it all and found it slowed my writing to a crawl.

I need to allow my muse to create as I write. It works for me. When I begin, I know my first scene and I know how the plot will resolve. The rest needs to be filled in.



Janet: Do you know how the story will end before you begin? In a general way or a specific one?

Barbara: I start a story after a vivid dream about the opening scene. I know at that time how the plot will resolve. It’s not something I could share. It’s the way my mind and imagination work. That knowing has worked for me.



Janet: Do you choose settings you know or do you have books of settings and plans of houses sitting around?

Barbara: My paranormal series is set in New England. I grew up in a small town very similar to my Rhodes End village. I like writing what I find familiar: ghosts, werewolves, vampires and eccentric people.

One of my Historical romances: Annie’s Heart, is set in Kansas and I had to do research to find details about the place. By the way, my belief in reincarnation was reinforced a few years ago when we visited the local at the Fort in Kansas. I had many details right although I never read them anywhere.



Janet: Where do you do your research? On line or from books?

Barbara: Whew! All over. I have a terrific memory for details and can recall facts I learned years ago. I do interview people. I like reading so I do a lot in books from the library. I’m learning to use the internet more although it can be difficult to verify anything I question. Any historian will tell you to have three sources before believing anything.



Janet: Are you a draft writer or do you revise as you go along and why?

Barbara: I revise as I go. My method is to open where I started the day before and edit those pages. It puts me back into my mindset and I can just continue forward. That doesn’t mean I don’t need final edits because I do.

I’ve tried several different methods and always go back to this since it works for me.



Thank you for having me as your guest, Janet.



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Author Website: http://barbaraedwards.net

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