Saturday Snippet

The new novel is coming along. In fact, I finally feel as though I know these characters, which is a lovely experience. They’re talking in my head more and more–that’s a great signal. It’s been a good writing week and I’m hoping that this getting up early every day to commit at least an hour to the WIP will get me to “The End” pretty quickly now.

Ryker Lange and his brother Becker and Max don’t have the same cozy, intimate relationship that the Flaherty boys have. They were raised differently and I was having a hard time acknowledging that as I wrote. I wanted the Langes to be all warm and fuzzy like the Flahertys. They aren’t, but they love each other fiercely and would go to the ends of the earth to protect one another and their mom. Their family dynamic is closer to my own reality, so maybe that’s why they’ve been harder to write. Only Sigmund knows for sure.

Here’s your snippet–a little peek into heroine Kitt Boynton:

Lots of things about Indiana reminded her of Ireland, but this wide, meandering river was not one of them. The Ohio River was nothing at all like the controlled River Liffey, which ran through the heart of Dublin, the city built up on either side. She used to walk along the Liffey on her lunch hour when she worked at Walsh, McCarthy & O’Connor Advertising to clear her head after long, difficult meetings with clients.

The trees on the opposite shore in Kentucky were bare, their skeleton branches reaching toward the blue winter sky, while a coal barge made its way east on the water. Closer to the shore, a couple of bundled-up kayakers paddled along, and even though the sun was shining, Kitt shivered, wondering how they could stand the brisk breeze. She remembered her cousin Aidan’s story at family supper the night before about how the Ohio had always been a highway of industry even before Indiana became a state. Fur trappers in canoes navigated its rapids and wide flatboats carried goods and pioneers in covered wagons west to the even longer Mississippi River. Her actor cousin told a dramatic story, and it made her excited to go down to the Falls of the Ohio state park to hear more about the river and its impact on Indiana and the rest of the Midwestern US.

There was so much to learn, particularly if she expected to stay and apply for dual citizenship one day and not return to Ireland. At least not to live. Her throat closed up and she shook her head. No use thinking about that now. There were racks to fill and she needed to show Sean some of her ideas for winter and spring events and advertising at Four Irish Brothers Winery.

That’s it for this week, kids. So much to be grateful for in spite all that’s going on in our country and in the world: Yesterday, Husband and I took our lunch to the park and wandered around the nature preserve a bit and took some fun pictures; Grandboy completed his “book,” that he wrote–he’s so proud and he should be; I got lots of steps in this past week while walking through our beautiful new neighborhood; I made my first batch of chicken and noodles for the fall and they were delish; and I got to write some fun fairy stories for one of DIL’s projects at her new job. It was a treat! 

Remember to stay well and stay safe, mes amies, and most of all, stay grateful!