Category: Excerpts

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New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me

Independently published with the help of DLD Books.

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Sixteen-year-old Natalie’s grandmother, suffering from dementia and confined to a wheelchair, lives in a nursing home and rarely recognizes Natalie. But one Halloween night, she tells her a shocking secret that only she and Natalie’s mother know. Natalie is the product of a one-night stand between her mother, who is a college English teacher, and another professor.

After some research, Natalie learns that people with dementia often have vivid memories of past events. Still not wanting to believe what her grandmother has told her, she finds her biological father online. The resemblance between them is undeniable. Not knowing what else to do, she shows his photo and website to her parents.

Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.

Her younger sister, Sarah, senses their parents’ marital difficulties. At Thanksgiving, when she has an opportunity to see Santa Claus, she asks him to bring them together again. Can the jolly old elf grant her request?

***

Visiting Grandparents #Six-SentenceStoryThursdayLinkUp #Excerpts #WritingPrompts

Welcome to another edition of Six Sentence Story Thursday Link Up, in which the given word is “truck.” This time, I have an excerpt from my latest novel, Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me. Here, sixteen-year-old Natalie, who is telling the story, has just arrived, along with her younger sister Sarah, their parents, and their dog, to her paternal grandparents’ home, where they plan to spend the Thanksgiving holiday.

***

“Where’s Grandpa?” asked Sarah, looking around.

“Oh, he’s still at the shop,” answered Grandma. “You wouldn’t believe the number of people who plan to leave for the weekend, then realize something’s wrong with their cars.”

A red pick–up truck pulled up to the curb, and she said, “Speak of the devil.”

“Grandpa!” cried Sarah. She dashed across the lawn.

***

Thanks to Girlie on the Edge for inspiring the above with her prompt for this week. You can click here to participate in this week’s hop and read other six-sentence creations.

Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography

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New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me

Independently published with the help of DLD Books.

Photo Resize and Description by

Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.

***

Research and Illness #MondayMusings #OpenBookBlogHop #Excerpts

Welcome to another edition of Open Book Blog Hop. This week’s question is: “What are your favorite resources for research?” You can click here to participate in this week’s hop and read other responses.

Doing research is something I’ve never enjoyed. For this reason, I write fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that doesn’t require much of it. Most of the time, I simply ask Siri or Alexa for information when I need it.

That having been said, in Why Grandma Doesn’t know Me, ten-year-old Sarah has appendicitis. To write this, I felt it necessary to look up symptoms and consult a fellow author who used to be a doctor. The following excerpt is told from sixteen-year-old Natalie’s point of view. She and her sister and mother and father are visiting grandparents in Laramie, Wyoming. They’ve just finished watching a movie on the night after Thanksgiving.

***

Down the hall, Squeakers, who was still in the study, started barking, and I could hear him scratching on the closed door.

“He probably wants to go out,” I said. “I’ll get him.”

“Oh, God, I forgot about him. I hope he didn’t pee or poop in there,” I heard Mom say as I dashed down the hall.

I opened the study door, and the dog dashed past me down the hall toward the living room, still barking. I stared after him, wondering what was wrong with him. Then I heard Sarah whimpering.

My heart pounding, I flipped on the overhead light and rushed to her side, putting a hand on her forehead.

“It really hurts,” she said as she clutched her stomach and rocked back and forth in the bed. “Even when I move just a little bit.”

Without thinking, I took my phone out of my pocket and called the person who would know what to do.

***

Who does Natalie call? Read the book and find out.

How about you authors out there? What are your favorite research sites?

Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography

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New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me

Independently published with the help of DLD Books.

Photo Resize and Description by

Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.

***

On the Screen #SixSentenceStoryThursdayLinkUp #Excerpts #Inspiration

Welcome to another edition of Six Sentence Story Thursday Link Up. This week’s given word is “screen,” and you can click here to participate in this week’s hop and read other six-sentence creations.

My contribution is an excerpt from my novel, Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me. Here, sixteen-year-old Natalie’s mother Marti is about to discover that Natalie knows the secret Marti has been keeping for years.

***

It was possible that Daryl hadn’t heard his own alarm, either. I would wake him after dealing with Natalie.

I knocked on her door. To my surprise, she said, “Come in, Mom.”

When I opened the door, she was sitting on the side of the bed, iPad in hand. She stood and walked toward me, holding the device so I could see what was on the screen.

***

So, what’s on that screen? Read the book and find out.

Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography

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Note that I’ll no longer post my Joyous Jotting series here. So, if you like reading about my life from the perspective of my robotic cat, please subscribe to my newsletter. Starting next month, that’s the only place you’ll find this feature.

New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me

Independently published with the help of DLD Books.

Photo Resize and Description by

Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.

***

Christmas Morning with the Vincent Family #TuesdayTidbit #Excerpts #Inspiration

In the following excerpt from Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me, sixteen-year-old Natalie describes the wonder she and her ten-year-old sister and their dog experience on Christmas morning, not unlike what many young people go through that day.

***

The next morning, Sarah shook me awake before it was light. “Natalie, wake up. It’s Christmas! Let’s see what’s in our stockings!”

“You know we can’t do that. We have to wait until everybody’s up. That’s the rule.”

Footsteps sounded in the hall, and someone tapped on the door.

“Come in,” we said.

The door opened, and Grandpa stuck in his head. “Grandma’s making hot chocolate. You girls might as well come down.”

“Are Mom and Dad up yet?” I asked.

“No, not yet, so be quiet.”

We put on our robes and slippers. Squeakers jumped out of his bed and wagged his tail. Sarah picked him up. “Come on, Squeakers. We put a stocking up for you. Let’s see what Santa brought!”

In the living room, as we did every year, Sarah and I gazed in wonder at the blinking lights on the Christmas tree, the packages underneath it, and the bulging stockings hanging above the fireplace. Grandpa was in one of the armchairs, his nose buried in a newspaper.

I noticed a box on the mantle above my stocking with a note pinned to it. I walked over to take a closer look.

Without lowering the newspaper, Grandpa said, “Don’t you dare! Sit down, and let’s wait for your parents.”

“I’m just looking,” I protested. I spotted a brand name on the side of the box. “Olympus! It’s a camera!”

Grandpa lowered the newspaper. “Why don’t you girls go see if your grandmother needs help with the hot chocolate?”

“Okay,” said Sarah, turning toward the kitchen. “Squeakers probably needs to go out, anyway.”

I reluctantly followed her out of the living room.

A few minutes later, we were all sitting in the living room, drinking hot chocolate. Sarah and I were on the couch with Squeakers between us, and Grandma and Grandpa were across from us in armchairs.

***

So, does Natalie end up getting that Olympus camera for Christmas? What other gifts do she and Sarah receive? What happens when Mom and Dad come downstairs? Read the book and find out. Please see below for details on how you can get Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me and two of my other books free from Smashwords for the rest of this month.

Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography

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I’m pleased to announce that from now until January 1^st, Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me, The Red Dress, and My Ideal Partner are ABSOLUTELY FREE from Smashwords as part of its 6^th annual end-of-year sale. Please visit my Smashwords author page to learn more.

If you haven’t already done so, please subscribe to my email list to receive my twice-yearly newsletter and other announcements. This is a one-way announcements list, meaning the only messages you’ll receive will come from me. So, you can rest assured that this list is low-traffic. Send a blank email to: newsfrommycorner+subscribe@groups.io You’ll receive a confirmation email. Reply to that with another blank message, and you should be good to go.

New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me

Independently published with the help of DLD Books.

Photo Resize and Description by

Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.

***