Title: Honeysuckle Love
Author: S. Walden
Date Published: 11/19/12
Clara Greenwich is too young to take on the sole responsibility of caring for herself
and her younger sister. She’s just sixteen. She should be focused on school, hanging
out with friends, falling in love. Instead, she’s working to pay off the mound of bills her
mother left behind when she vanished at the start of the school year. Left alone with her
ten-year-old sister, Beatrice, Clara discovers that she is now the parent, the provider,
and the responsibilities grow to be more than she can handle.
Complicating matters is senior Evan Morningstar who starts pursuing Clara at the
beginning of her junior year. She’s confused by this. Evan is a popular, likeable guy.
She describes herself as a nobody—a quiet, intensely shy girl who suffers from social
anxiety. She wants love like any teenage girl, but she’s terrified to let Evan get close, to
discover her secrets. His gentle persistence eventually wins out, however, and she has
no option but to open her heart to him.
When Clara’s responsibilities prove too great, she begins a slow descent into
depression, making dangerous choices that threaten her relationships. She can stay
trapped in her despair or discover redemption—how to forgive the past and love again.
Honeysuckle Love Excerpts
(from Chapter 6)
The tardy bell
drowned out Clara’s laughter as the remaining students hurried into class. She
tried to concentrate during the lecture, but it was hard with Evan sitting so
close. She wanted him to keep saying silly things to her to make her laugh. She
loved feeling the laughter all throughout her body, making her warm and giddy.
It made her forget about her troubles. It made her feel special.
She didn’t
understand why he chose to sit beside her today. He always sat with his friends
on the opposite side of the room. Were they wondering, too, why he chose to
hang out with a nobody? She would not get caught up in the ridiculous idea that
he liked her. But he did make a point to walk over to her and sit with her in
the cafeteria. In front of everyone. And he did say she was pretty. Well, the
exact words were, “You’re too pretty to say something so blasphemous.”
He couldn’t know that she’d been mulling over those words since the moment he
said them. And now he sat beside her in class when he never did that.
He was like the
cat they used to have years ago that showed up one day, kept coming around for
food but was never pushy about it, and before Clara knew it, the cat was
sleeping with her in her bed. The image changed to Evan sleeping with her in
her bed, and she jumped in her seat.
“Are you okay?”
Evan whispered leaning over close to her.
She nodded,
afraid to look at him. She was convinced her eyes would give away her secret
thoughts.
Guest post by the author:
Write
However, Whenever. Just Write.
I’ve had people ask me how I write.
Well, there’s no correct writing process. Sure, you learn about the Writing
Process in school, but it’s a bunch of hooey. Every person (who writes) writes
differently, and all forms are acceptable. Now what’s not acceptable is never
revising and editing your work. Ugh. Find some critique partners. Find an
editor. It doesn’t matter if you’re going it alone as I am or signed with a big
publishing house. Make sure you have an editor. And a good one.
My process is usually all over the
place. I get an idea for a story, mull it over in my brain, take notes or make
a loose (and I mean very loose)
outline, and begin. Do I begin at the beginning? Never. I’ve never started a
story from the beginning. I always start with whatever scene pops into my head
first. But I write fiction. It may prove harder to write this way if I wrote
nonfiction. Some might argue that this can mess up the whole character
development thing, but I’ve never had that be the case. Sure, I end up changing
scenes, sometimes a little, and sometimes altogether. Sometimes I cut them
completely. But I always write whatever feels right in that moment. I don’t
ever try to go Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, and so on.
I’ve run into several dilemmas
writing this way. You see, the good thing about writing linearly is that you
seldom make mistakes in your plot progression with times, dates, information
characters know or don’t know. But when you write all over the place—I like to
call it the Chaotic Method—then you tend to run a higher risk of having
conflicting information in your story. Take this morning, for instance. I’m in
the process of writing my third novel, Going
Under. I was writing a scene where a character makes reference to
information she hasn’t yet discovered! And that’s because I’ve already written
the scene where she discovers it, but the one I worked on this morning comes
way earlier in the draft. Whoops. So yeah, that can be an issue. But that’s
what your editor is for, right? (She’d love hearing that.)
Here’s the thing about it: I would
never again (because I have in the past) give someone instructions on the
appropriate way to write. The correct process, if you will. I did that for a
few years as a writing teacher, and felt like one huge fraud. It was
frustrating for me and frustrating for my students. They thought they had to
write a certain way, and I knew better. But my hands were tied—I had to adhere
to the curriculum—though that’s no excuse. I should have been subversive in my
teaching. It always makes you a better teacher when you’re subversive. Remember
that. In any case, I carry a bit of guilt for passing off the five-paragraph
essay and Writing Process as the appropriate methods. I’m trying to atone for
it now.
So write however you want. Find the
process that works best for you. Maybe you are more organized and enjoy writing
linearly. It keeps you sane. It keeps your story sensible. It helps you write
better. Go for it. Maybe you’re like me and ideas just explode in your brain at
random. Before you know it, you’ve got an entire Word document filled with a
bunch of unorganized scenes. Then it’s like a puzzle: move this around, that
around, until it fits. Whatever works for you, do it. But however you do it,
just do it. Keep writing.
Author Bio:
S. Walden used to teach English before making the easy decision to become a full-time writer.
Easy because once she completed a full-time graduate program, there weren't any teaching jobs
anyway! She lives in Georgia with her very supportive husband who does not read fiction and
has a difficult time understanding why her characters must have personality flaws. She is wary of
small children, so she has two Westies instead. Her dreams include getting through her next big
writing project (a three-part series) and owning and operating a beachside inn on the Gulf Coast.
Her husband's dreams for her include getting her Ph.D. so that he can tell people he's married to
a doctor.
She loves her fans and loves to hear from them. Email her at swaldenauthor@hotmail.com and
follow her blog at http://swaldenauthor.blogspot.com where you can get up-to-date information
on her current projects.
Blog: http://swaldenauthor.blogspot.com
email: swaldenauthor@hotmail.com
twitter: swaldenauthor
email: swaldenauthor@hotmail.com
twitter: swaldenauthor
Buy Link
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Honeysuckle-Love-ebook/dp/B00A9HW8HC/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1
Amazon Paperback edition: http://www.amazon.com/Honeysuckle-Love-S-Walden/dp/1481004638/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355332296&sr=1-2&keywords=honeysuckle+love
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/256162
CreateSpace Paperback edition: https://www.createspace.com/4057864
Barnes and Noble Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/honeysuckle-love-s-walden/1113887770?ean=2940045096560
Amazon Paperback edition: http://www.amazon.com/Honeysuckle-Love-S-Walden/dp/1481004638/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355332296&sr=1-2&keywords=honeysuckle+love
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/256162
CreateSpace Paperback edition: https://www.createspace.com/4057864
Barnes and Noble Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/honeysuckle-love-s-walden/1113887770?ean=2940045096560
Hi Ruth,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for promoting my book, Honeysuckle Love, on your blog today! And to all of your followers, thank you so much for taking the time to read about my work. I hope it piqued your interest.
-S. Walden