Is There No Fixing This? - Romantic Friday Writers, Forgiven

The Romantic Friday Writers are posting their answer to Challenge No. 9 - Forgiven. 


I opted to enter a scene I'm working on for Bayou Blue, the third book in the Shades of Hope series.  In it, Jake has just had an argument with Riley, an auburn-haired spitfire that everyone in town calls 'Red'. She did something that jeopardized the investigation into a tragedy everyone believes her brother caused.


Verona is Jake's best friend since childhood. They grew up on Bayou La Fourde together and she pulls no punches even if he is the parish's sheriff.

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Bayou Blue
Coming August 2012
Sheriff Jake Ayers wants his parish to heal from the tragic bombing that left his town in mourning, but with Riley Drake back in town, that’s not going to happen. Jake cares for the beautiful, determined reporter, but Riley is causing no end of trouble. Most of the people want her dead. Emotions run deep in the bayou, and Jake’s are no exception. Keeping a level head and an indifferent heart is going to be as difficult as keeping Riley alive.

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Jake stood at his desk, stretched, and grabbed the sheriff’s star from the desk top.

“You weren’t a stupid boy, Jake,” Verona’s voice called from the front counter. “How is it that you’re being such a stupid man?”

“Evening, V,” Jake said back. “Come as part of the goodwill committee again?”

Waving the question away, she lifted a section of the counter, clicking her gum as she walked over. “Where’s Red?”

Ignoring her question, Jake leaned back on his desk, half sitting, and crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re not supposed to be back here.”

“She’s just as stubborn as you are, you know. Someone’s got to bend for you two to have any sort of chance.”

“Comment?” Jake tried to shrug off her words. “How do you mean?”

“You know what I mean, Jake.” She sauntered back toward the desk, her head cocked to the side looking at him with a worried smile like she used to do when they were kids. “You planning on hiding out here all night? There’s a party outside in case you hadn’t heard.”

“Oh, I’ve heard,” Jake nodded to the cells down the hall. “I’ve got a few revelers here for company already. And I’m not hiding. I’m on duty.”

Verona stopped in front of Toughie’s desk, scooted onto it, and sat facing Jake. “You hiding from her?”

Jake stared at her for a beat and then shrugged. “I have no—”

“Oh, please, Jake. I saw you with her, remember?” She pointed to his face. “I’ve seen that look on you before.”

“Don’t do this, V.”

“You going to deny there’s something there?”

“No.” He answered simply. No point in lying to her. “Doesn’t matter what I want though. It’s a bad idea. Her brother blew up the town, Verona. Besides, she and I fight whenever we get within ten feet of each other.”

“Maybe you should get closer,” she drawled.

Jake grabbed his hat from the rack pointedly ignoring the comment.

“I told her to leave town.”

“Like that’s never happened before.”

Jake turned to face her unable to hide the sorrow swirling in his gut and her smile faltered. He plopped the hat on his head, stared out at Verona from under it, and shrugged.

“I don’t know. I told her I was freezing her out of her brother’s investigation. That I couldn’t trust her, so yeah, I think she’ll probably leave.”

“Is there no chance of fixing this?” Verona asked quietly. “You think she’ll just…leave again?”

“I’m not sure if I can charm her into forgiving me for this one.”

She nodded at him, her eyes boring into his. “Is there some reason you’re refusing to see that this woman is the one good thing to come out of all of this? That she just might be what you need?”

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You can also find links to all the other awesome excerpts there.

JC and the Blog Tour De Force!

J.C. Martin is joining me during her mini blog tour to promote the release of the Stories for Sendai charity anthology. 

Raquel: I'm so delighted to have you stop by, J.C. Can you tell us what your Tour de Force is all about?

J.C.: Stories for Sendai is a collection of 20 uplifting and inspirational short stories that all share a common theme: they encompass hope and the strength of the human spirit. All proceeds from sales of the anthology will go towards helping victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Raquel: What a worthy endeavor. You really put your talent to work for the good of others. Can you tell us how long you've been writing?

J.C.: I’ve been writing all my life, but have only decided to seriously pursue writing as a career last August. To allow more time each day for writing, I had a change in career. As a kung fu instructor, I LOVE writing action scenes, and I believe my knowledge of the martial arts come in very handy when writing fight scenes. 


Raquel: Do you have a favorite book on the writing craft? If so, how has it helped you?


J.C.: Stephen King’s On Writing is one of the most inspirational books on writing around! The part memoir, part how-to book discusses elements of style, and how less is often more. He provides examples of his first draft and then shows us how he edits it—absolutely priceless advice! Hopefully I’ve managed to put his tips to practice in my contribution to the anthology, a short story entitled Tommy’s Legacy.


Raquel: Is there a way that we can help the disaster victims in Japan?


J.C: Why not purchase a copy (or two) of Stories for Sendai? You get a lovely little book of wonderful short stories, plus you also contribute to aid efforts in Japan! As an added incentive, there is a prize draw, with awesome prizes like books, gift vouchers and critiques! 


All you have to do is to buy a copy of Stories for Sendai and email us a copy of your receipt at storiesforsendai (at) ymail (dot) com. One entry per purchase! Winners will be announced on July 15th!

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With Michelle Davidson Argyle, J.C. Martin is co-editor of the Stories for Sendai charity anthology. A displaced Malaysian living in south London with her husband and three dogs, she funds her writing obsession by working as a martial arts instructor. Her short stories have been published by New Asian Writing, Pill Hill Press and Static Movement, and she is the winner of IFWG Publishing’s Short Story Contest in 2010. You can find her online ramblings at http://jc-martin.com/fighterwriter/. For shorter, 140-character versions of her ramblings, find her on Twitter @JCMartin_author (http://twitter.com/#!/JCMartin_author).

Lies - Romantic Friday Writers

~This Week's Challenge~

This week's challenge for The Romantic Friday Writers is Lies! I thought I'd enter an excerpt from my soon to be released romantic suspense, Ruby Dawn.  


The second book in the Shades of Hope series, Ruby Dawn introduces us to Ruby, a former foster kid, who reunites with her first love as they battle a vicious gang. Tom, now in the DEA, reappears in her life after going missing ten years ago bringing with him a secret Ruby thought was long hidden...

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Ruby Dawn ~ 


He stared, and then his face changed from concern to suspicion. “Y – You were there?”

I nodded.

“What…how?”

“Let it go, Ben. It was a long time ago.”

Ben wrapped his hand around my arm and leaned forward.

“Ruby, this guy has brought nothing but destruction since he got here. What am I supposed to do, just let things fall apart?”

I pulled my arm away, irritated.

“That’s not fair. Tom didn’t do any of the damage. Antonio Llave got one of his boys to do it. It was the Culebra.”

“You’ve known all along who was behind the vandalism, they killed Dakota too.” It was a statement, not a question. Angry, he closed the file abruptly.

“Ben—”

“Does Tom know who did it?”

I nodded.

Ben’s expression hardened.

“I was afraid you’d go after him, Ben. He’s a dangerous guy. Antonio is with the Culebra street gang.”

Ben looked at me like I was a stranger. When he spoke, it was with bitterness. “I thought I was doing you a favor, Ruby, letting you know what you were getting into, but apparently you already know what kind of guy Tom is and don’t care.”

“He isn’t like that,” I argued and pushed the file away. “He…you don’t know the whole story.”

 “Then enlighten me, Ruby. Explain how this kid, this killer, can turn into your white knight.”

“He’s not my white knight, Ben.”

“Then tell me you’re not in love with him.”

I hesitated, then looked out the window. “I…I can’t.”

Ben picked up the file and waved it. “I don’t know how you can justify what he did, Ruby. I don’t know how you can want to be with him.”

“Just because I have these old feelings for him resurfacing doesn’t mean I’m going to throw myself back into a relationship with him,” I spat. Guilt for leading Ben on and giving in to Tom’s magnetism burned in my gut.

“You love him, but you don’t want to be with him,” Ben looked at me with suspicion. “Explain that one.”

“Tom and I obviously have a complicated history,” I said quietly, fighting for control.

Ben’s gold-flecked eyes darkened. He waved the file at me again. “Explain how something like this doesn’t make you run the other direction.”

“You don’t understand what it was like, Ben.” My voiced hitched.

“Tell me, Ruby. What happened that night?”

There was no way I would talk about that. Not here, not anywhere. Ben wouldn’t understand.

“Fine.” Ben got up from the table, grabbed the file, and stalked out the front door. He never looked back. He just drove away, from me and the mess that was left of my life.

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I hope you pop on over and check out the other excerpts and entries from my fellow Romantic Friday Writers.  If you'd like to participate, sign up and join in the fun. Every Friday is a new challenge and new things to share.