via Chapter Three…Kiss and Tell.

Something is holding up the work on the sequel to FALL.   I got 5 chapters into the sequel and the Muse disappeared.   So I went searching for her – everywhere.  I tried meditations, running, trancing, talking to friends, rereading FALL, hiking, drawing, watching movies, dancing, and making up stories about the supporting charachters, just anything to get the Muse to start talking to me again. 

And nothing.  So I quit.  I gave up looking and sat down to my computer and started working on a different project.  And softly, ever so softly, she is tiptoeing back.  I can sense the whisper of movement as she flits through my mind touching the memories of the last six months when I had searched for her in vain.  Memories that swirl and realign themselves to create a parallel memory as a basis to the sequel.   The memory of the hike up a nearby Canyon where I was alone with nature and the elements, where I saw blood splattered snow but no animal prints.   Where I paused to rest by the river and imagined a secret place for two lovers to meet, lovers from two very different worlds and times.  The snow and the ice of the forested canyon a perfect backdrop for Quabin’s lair – plotting revenge.  Or nights in SLC where demons roam the streets, seeking souls to drain of light.  Crisp snow-covered summits where Angels meet to survey the needs of humanity, and where wispy clouds disguise the presence of ethereal beings.

I need to go back to Torrey.  To where it all came together the first time.  My Muse is urging me to go there so I can retrace Julia’s steps and remember her frustrations and challenges, from her first impression of Torrey to her first kiss so sweet it melted her core and the connection she didn’t understand to a man she hardly knew ….. oh wait, were those my memories realigning from some distant past?  Or did I really just make all this up?  Maybe it was only a dream……..

From The Dream

Love is not love until love’s vulnerable.

She slowed to a sigh, in that long interval.

A small bird flew in circles where we stood;

The deer came down, out of the dappled wood.

All who remember, doubt.  Who calls that strange?

I tossed a stone, and listened to its plunge.

She knew the grammar of least motion, she

Lent me one virtue, and I live thereby.

She held her body steady in the wind;

Our shadows met, and slowly swung around;

She turned the field into a glittering sea;

I played in flame and water like a boy

And I swayed out beyond the white seaform;

Like a wet log, I sank within a flame.

In that last while, eternity’s confine,

I came to love, I came into my own.

~ Theodore Roethke

“-It is not because angels are holier than men or devils that makes them angels, but because they do not expect holiness from one another, but from God alone. ~ Wlliam Blake

“-Angels are not etherealized human beings, evolving animal qualities in their wings; but they are celestial visitants, flying on spiritual, not material, pinions.  Angels are pure thoughts from God, winged with Truth and Love, no matter what their individualism may be.  Human conjecture confers upon angels its own forms of thought, marked with superstitious outlines, making them creatures with suggestive feathers; but this is only fancy.  It has behind it no more reality than has the sculptor’s thought when he carves his “Statue of Liberty,” which embodies his conception of an unseen quality or condition…

Angels are God’s representatives.  These upward-soaring beings never lead towards self, sin, or materiality, but guide to the divine principle of all good, whither every real individuality, image or likeness of God, gathers.  By giving earnest heed to these spiritual guides they tarry with us, and we entertain “angels unawares.”  ~ Mary Baker Eddy Science and Health

“Praise ye him, all his angels; praise ye him, all his hosts.”  ~ Ps. 148:2

I’m participating in the Give Books for Christmas Giveaway Hop, hosted by Inksplasher.

What’s a Give Books for Christmas Giveaway Hop? It’s a group of bloggers who are giving away books as prizes!

The hop runs from December 1 through the 15th. All books will be shipped on December 16th. We can’t guarantee books will arrive in time for Christmas,

but we’re going to give it a good try!

At the end of this post, you’ll see a long list of the participating blogs. Just click the links and go check out the contests.

I’m giving away a copy of my novel, FALL. This book comes as a hardcopy (or ebook for international winners). 

Blurb: 

Women and construction shouldn’t mix. At least, that is what the client, Mr. Blackwell, thinks when twenty-one year old Julia D. Halstead is promoted to project manager to convert a turn-of-the-century schoolhouse into a bed and breakfast. However, the schoolhouse contains a dark secret that has been hidden for nearly a hundred years. A secret that will unleash the Furies of Hell and cause the Angels in Heaven to weep as ethereal brothers, Matthew and Nathan, battle over Julia’s very soul.

*Amazon Reader Reviews*

“If you love brooding gorgeous guys, or those that are a bit over protective, if you love girls who know how to weld power tools, then Fall is the book to read. This clean paranormal romance will grab you by your boots and send you on an amazing ride that will leave you begging for more! I loved every minute of this book and was disappointed it had to end. I highly recommend Fall for your next read. You will love the angel, demon tug of war for the highly prized soul of a beautiful girl. I found it hard to put down and could not help but be drawn back to it when I did. I loved every unexpected twist and turn and couldn’t believe the fun was over so soon when I finished the last page.  Jennifer Hurst knows how to weave a story and weaves subplots and themes seamlessly through the story line. She is a master story teller and I impatiently wait for more of her work.” Dancin-Debbie

“JD is a woman of strength. She is determined to make it in her grandfather’s construction company on her own merits. When she finally gets her big break at managing a construction site on her own she jumps at the chance with gusto. Even though JD is one smart cookie she falls for one of the contractors she has hired to do demolition on the project. He is everything she likes but he has one little secret that will cost JD more than she knows. Then there is Nathan. Someone who shares a connection with JD even though she doesn’t understand it. Everything starts to unravel as JD learns a few things about her life.
I liked the story for many reasons. I love characters and JD (Julia) was a great character. She had a self awareness that made her want to prove herself. She tried to portray strength to the people around her but in her inner thoughts there was a vulnerability that made her seem more real. I liked that she turned to a milkshake at one point to get a little perspective. That moment made her someone I could connect with. I liked the aspect of angles/fallen angels. I’m not going to say any more about that but it added to my enjoyment of this story.
What I didn’t like: Even though the author does give some background to the connection between Nathan and Julia (JD) it is incomplete. I still found that I had questions and felt like I wasn’t getting the complete story between these two.
Overall Fall is a great read. I recommend this book to all those who enjoy a bit of the paranormal/romance/action cocktail. ” ~jlmac3011

“I LOVED this book, I was amazed at the depth of the characters in such a short read and the moment I finished it I wanted more. It took a few chapters to get into but once in it was hard to rip myself away. It’s a clean read for those who like romance but don’t like smut… The squeal to this will be harder for me to wait for then the last Twilight book was.” ~Apple Storm

“I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was a tiny bit apprehensive at first because I don’t know a thing about construction, which is the line of work for the main character, but I was very quickly drawn into the story and enjoyed every minute of it. I had a hard time putting it down and found myself searching for extra time to read. I enjoy a little bit of darkness and supernatural in a book and Fall has just the right amount without going too far. This is a great book that I highly recommend and hope that a sequel will be soon to follow.”~Jett331

Open to International entries. Must have email.

Deadline to enter: Thursday, December 15, 2011.

To enter to win this book:

1. Become a follower of my blog (right sidebar).
2. Visit and Like FALL’s Face Book page.
3. Optional: Tweet or Facebook to spread the word. (Let me know in the comments what you’ve done. One extra entry per post.)

That’s it! The winner will be posted and notified at the end of the hop.

Anyway – in the original draft of FALL, I had included this chapter based on part of the dream I had.  It was later removed after several of my Alpha Readers expressed negative comments about it.  The reason I had included it in the first place was to explore JD’s struggle between the choice of having a career or marriage and family. 

UNEDITED

Chapter Twenty One

      JD reached the top of the stairs at the sixty-sixth floor, at long last.  A red door with fancy gold scrollwork down its center stood at the other side of a wide landing and another guard with sunglasses motioned her forward.  She made it, and she gloated, glancing behind her at the long line of people below.  She had endured to the end and had made it to the top.  She was mere moments from meeting Nicholas and becoming a registered citizen. 

      The guard opened the door for her.  Just as she crossed the threshold, the door was quickly shut behind her.  She found herself in a very nicely appointed waiting room with three other people – the black young woman, the teenage boy and an older woman in her fifties.  She took the only empty chair nearest the door.  JD sunk into the soft red velvet seat, a relief after so many months on the cold marble stairs. 

      A mini bar leapt into her field of view.  JD jumped to her feet and in two strides had her hands in a bowl of fruit.  She shoved an apple to her mouth and sunk her teeth into foam.  She spat it out, wiping her mouth on her sleeve.  JD stared at the fruit in disbelief, picking up each fruit and examining it.  She heard a snicker and glanced behind her.  The teenage boy ducked his head, covering his smile with a fist.   The woman looked at JD as if she was disgusted and the black young woman pretended she didn’t see.  JD set the plastic decoration back into the bowl and noticed that others before her had been fooled as well.  Bite marks covered several of the fake fruits.  JD picked up the bowl and looked for a trash can.  She was thoroughly disgusted and decided that Nicholas was cruel.  She hated him already.   Finding no trash can, she took the bowl and hid it under her chair.  She would defy this Nicholas and prevent him from luring desperate people into thinking their hunger would be satisfied, only to disappoint them profoundly as he had done to her.  JD grumbled under her breath, practicing just what she was going to say to him as soon as she saw him.

      A bell chimed and the woman stood and entered the door nearest her, closing it with a soft click.  The rest of the room’s occupants moved forward and another person entered the room – but it wasn’t the Hispanic woman that had been standing behind JD.  It was the stoic man behind her.  He didn’t look at them, but calmly took JD’s recently vacated seat.

      JD wished there were magazines or something to read while she waited.  Finding nothing to distract her, she dozed instead.  A jab in her arm signaled her to move forward.  She had no sooner sat down, then the bell chimed again.  The black woman and her exchanged glances, but neither one cared to comment on the short interview the boy must have had with Nicholas.  JD got the feeling it wasn’t good.  The college girl shrugged and entered the adjoining room.  JD tried to peer around her, but glimpsed only darkness beyond. She could hardly sit still.  She drummed her finger tips on the arms rests, and tapped her toes on the plush black carpet.  JD glanced at the man next to her, but he didn’t acknowledge her.  His look was dark, sad, and despondent.  It spooked her.  She didn’t bother acknowledging the two newer additions to the room.  She probably wasn’t going to see them again anyway.  It seemed a one way route into that room.   

      The bell chimed. It was her turn.  She stood and entered the room, half expecting with waning hope that she’d find another long line of people. It was pitch black at first and then a small light flicked on in the distance.  She couldn’t see anything but the light, but she had the odd feeling she was in a cavernous room. 

      “Come forward,” said a man’s voice with just a hint of an accent that she couldn’t place.  JD took a tentative step forward.  Her bare weary feet tread across a floor that was cold and smooth as marble.  The closer she got to the light, the more she could discern the outline of a man sitting in a low back chair.  A pair of hands, presumably belonging to the man who called her forward, was clasped on the silver metal surface of a desk.  He wore a silver band on his left hand, middle finger.

      The hands parted and the right hand motioned for her to sit on a chair before him.  The chair’s back was in shadow and with trembling hands JD grasped it and came around to sit down, a little roughly than she had intended.  Her legs were wobbly and her palms sweaty.

      “Name?” he asked.

      “JD Halstead,” she squeaked.  Her head felt light, but her face felt tight from tension.  Keep breathing, in and out, slow and steady, she told herself.

      “Ah, yes,” he replied, “Juliette Dilettante Halstead, I’ve been expecting you.”  She could hear the smile in his voice as he wrote something on a small black rectangular tablet with a silver stylus.

      “JD,” she corrected him.  She hated hearing the sound of her birth name on the lips of a stranger.  She realized belatedly that she ought to have more respect for him as he apparently controlled the whole city.  The lecture on human rights that she had been rehearsing throughout her time in the long line evaporated in fear.

      “Of course,” he amended amicably.  “I am Nicholas, as I am sure you have heard.  I interview all persons that come into my city and wish to participate in the various activities that are offered here.  If I feel they are worthy after the interview, I register them into the system.” He tapped the tablet with the stylus.  “However, I cannot register you.”

      Her stomach clenched as hot tears sprang up. How was she supposed to make it back to Torrey without food or supplies? She blinked her eyes rapidly to keep the tears at bay.

      “I am trying to get back to Torrey,” her voice trembled.

      “Quite,” Nicholas said indifferently and laid the tablet down. “You are a project manager?”

      “Yes,” she sniffed.

      “Renovating a beautiful old schoolhouse in a Torrey,” He stated. “Your first job?”

      “That’s correct.”  He seemed to know a lot about her.  She wondered now if that goat-faced kid she chased through the hole may have been a spy for him.

      “You are a very smart and talented young woman.  How would you like to take on a bigger project?”

      “Are you offering me a job?” JD asked incredulously.

       “I am actually.  Are you interested?” The hands withdrew from the light. 

      “I’d have to finish the renovation first,” she said slowly, wrapping her arms around her middle to stifle the grumbling.

      “Of course,” he said.  JD stared at the blackness where she thought his face might be, and wondered why he chose to hide in the shadows?  Perhaps for his own protection against someone who was rejected, she thought.  Somehow, that didn’t seem right, but it was the only thing she could think of.

      “What is the job?” she found herself asking.

      “I need to expand my city,” Nicholas replied as if it were obvious. She heard something hum behind Nicholas and the blackness slid up like a window shade and she could see a sea of stars beyond his black silhouette.  City lights spread for miles and miles all around them except for one side, where she had stepped through the door.  She was speechless.  She looked back in Nicholas’s direction.

      She didn’t know what to say.  It was a huge project he has just offered her.  A part of her rationalized, this isn’t real, you’re hallucinating.  There’s a gas leak in the schoolhouse or something and this is a hallucination.  But another part of her was very much intrigued by his offer, no matter how ridiculous the nightmare was becoming.

      Nicholas sensed her internal debate and said, “Does the offer appeal to you, JD?”

      “A lot of people would think so,” she responded carefully.  She didn’t know this guy, she didn’t know where she was exactly and the man was offering her a job. She was starving.

      “What would you think?  Is it something you want?” He leaned forward and she glimpsed the edges of his pinstripe suit sleeves. 

      “Sure,” she said slowly.  She got the distinct impression that if she answered all the questions correctly he’d help get her back to Torrey. “What would it entail?” she ventured.

      “It would be a very demanding job, leaving you little time for frivolous things at first.  You’d need to put in long hours; there would be no time for family, let alone friends.  But the rewards of your hard work would be well worth it.”  He leaned back. “JD, look here, something you might find interesting.  A preview, if you will, of what you can expect should you accept my offer.”

      The city lights next to her rippled like water before solidifying into an image of a posh office overlooking the San Francisco bay.  There was a well dressed woman sitting at an elegant desk and JD realized with a start that it was her.  She was dressed in an expensive suit, her hair perfectly coiffed. An assistant hovered nearby as JD chatted on the phone. Piles of contracts were stacked on the credenza behind her.  Thick blueprints spread across her desk.  It was obvious that she was enjoying a very busy and fruitful career.

      Then the scene flashed to the people she worked with and for; celebrities, well-known business people, and politicians.  Then again the scene shifted and showed her participating in red-ribbon ceremonies, dinners, parties, vacations, a huge house with all the toys.  JD saw herself smiling and happy, moving through each scene effortlessly as if everything she touched worked like clockwork, no problems, every project completed under budget, on time, clients happy, profits huge.  The scene faded away and the city lights returned.

      That was the life she had dreamed of having for herself.  That was her definition of success.  She wanted it.  She forgot about her empty stomach, her stinging need for water, she was on the very brink of her wildest dreams. 

      “I accept,” she told Nicholas with conviction.  Nicholas pushed the tablet towards her with the stylus lying across it.   

      “Our contract,” Nicholas explained.  She grasped the silver stylus between her trembling fingers.  Something immediately pricked her finger and a droplet of blood fell onto the smooth surface.  She didn’t even flinch; she had gone so cold and numb.  JD signed her name.  Her signature looked as if an old woman had scribed it.  Thoughts of Matt died away. 

      Nicholas stood and instantly the blackness vanished.  JD stood in a white nondescript room with unseen lights running the length of the room where the ceiling met the walls.

       “Follow the road home, JD,” Nicholas said.  She turned to look at him, but couldn’t see him clearly.  It was as if his face and all distinguishing features were hidden behind some sort of grayish mist.  He motioned towards the space behind her. She turned and saw before her a candy apple red Dodge Viper, her dream car.  She didn’t even thank him.  She walked to it and climbed in.  He appeared at the driver side window the next moment, “Drive safely, Juliette.”  He stepped away and when he did, the walls fell away to reveal a weirdly colored landscape of rolling hills, too green to be natural.  The sky was too blue and the clouds too white. A yellowish road lay before her and disappeared over the hills.  Daylight had finally come to the weird underground world she had fallen into. 

      JD cranked the engine. It purred.  She pressed the accelerator slightly and it growled.  Shifting it into gear, JD eased out, terrified at the amount of power beneath the car’s hood.  JD pressed harder on the accelerator and she was launched out of the room, moving swiftly over the hills. Beyond the hills, the road began to curve to the left, then sharply to the right. She laid the pedal to the metal as she approached a stretch of road that wound around cliffs on her left and fell away to an ocean far below, an ocean as blue and vivid as only she’d seen in travel magazines of the Caribbean.  The car became like an extension of her and she never felt so confident in her life.  JD felt indestructible, taking the curves in the road at lightning speed, feeling the air whip past her, the thrill lifting her to heights of adrenalin ecstasy never experienced before.

      Suddenly from her left came another vehicle.  JD glanced over and saw an older woman driving a deep blue sports car.  The woman grinned a knowing and understanding look at JD.  She was obviously enjoying the speed just as much as JD was. The woman accelerated easily past her, as if she was more experienced with this road.   She soon disappeared from view.  JD did not dare to go any faster. She was at the limit of speed she was comfortable with. 

      JD glanced in her rearview mirror and spotted another car, and yet another.  More cars were catching up to her, in all expensive makes and models.  As the amount of traffic started building up around her, she slowed down, allowing the other cars to swerve around her. 

      Suddenly, her car evaporated and JD found herself walking with a silver wrapped package in her arms. She glanced about her and saw the others join her on foot as their cars also dematerialized from beneath them.  They did not seem particularly alarmed, perhaps a bit surprised, but all of them pushed forward as the road turned sharply left in toward land and away from the ocean.  The women that she walked with seemed to come from all walks of life.  Career women dressed in fashionable dress suits, college students with their sloppy clothes and backpacks, but mostly they were young women like JD, new to their careers, trying to get established in their chosen professions.

      JD slowed her pace as most of them hurried forward, determinedly walking to where a huge bon fire burned at the end of the road.  She wondered at their hurry.  A hard knot formed in her stomach as she didn’t have a good feeling about this.  A giantess with long messy red hair, stood near the fire, smiling, beckoning the women forward.   One by one, the women went up to her and handed over their silver wrapped bundles.  The red-haired woman smiled and spoke to them in a calm and assuring manner and sent them on their way.  The women, having been unburdened from their bundles, turned to the right and were once again enveloped in their cars and zipped away.

      The giantess then tossed the silver bundle into the fire, turning to greet another woman and relieved her of her bundle and sent her on her way.  JD found herself standing in another line.  Before her was the young black college girl.  She glanced at JD with recognition in her eyes, but said nothing.  JD saw that she carried a silver package in her arms as well.  JD glanced down at her silver package, but she was so intrigued by the giantess and what she is doing that she had no desire whatsoever to even look inside the package she carried. 

      A middle aged woman ahead of the black girl practically tossed her package at the woman and ran away to get her car.  JD then heard a noise come from her bundle and curiosity caused her to pause and take a peek inside her package as the giantess tossed yet another bundle into the fire.  JD moved aside a flap of the silver paper and to her astonishment found a perfect cherubic faced baby within.

      It was sound asleep with its chubby and dimpled fists tucked under its chin.  Light curly golden hair fluttered in the hot breeze of the fire.  JD looked up at the giantess as she watched the giantess received the young black woman’s package and toss it into the flames.  The young woman strode away as if she had no idea what she had just thrown away.  The red haired giantess reached for JD’s package next, but JD jerked back, hugging the precious infant against her bosom.  JD shook her head.  The giantess scowled and she struck the ground with the end of her staff, shouting something at her that was completely obscured by the roar of the flames.  JD sidestepped around her in a hurry.  She couldn’t allow the giantess to harm the baby, the innocent child.  Her child, JD realized.  Yes, the baby was hers. She knew it, could feel it with every fiber of her being.  In an instant she knew now what was happening around her. 

      The women were giving up motherhood to pursue careers and burning their future babies.  JD could not do it.  She wouldn’t do it. She might have given up love and marriage for a successful career, but she wouldn’t give up a baby for it.  JD ran past the giantess, following after the women who had so carelessly and thoughtlessly thrown away motherhood.  She glanced over her shoulder; the giantess did not pursue her, only stared after her with a horrific snarl.  JD turned to look forward again, and ran smack into something solid that knocked her into oblivion.  The last thought she had was to protect her baby, and she gripped the package to her, determined to hold on to it, no matter what.

This Friday  (11-11-11) you can win 1 of 11 newly revised and edited editions of the ebook version of FALL.

1 of the 11 winners will be randomly selected to have their name entered in the B&B Gift Certificate Giveaway  Contest ending December 31st, 2011.

So, how do you win a copy of FALL?  Just sign up to follow this blog  OR  click LIKE on FALL’s Page on Facebook and comment below that you have done so.

Check out the contest to learn how you can have a chance to win a gift certificate to the actual Bed & Breakfast in Torrey, Utah where the story takes place.

Hurry – you only have until 11:11 pm on 11-11-11 to enter.

The first 11 to respond – win!!!

Enjoy!