Tag: Wattpad

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Final Chapter of Betwixt – Now available!

Betwixt shortHere it is folks – the final installment of BETWIXT.

I feel like I’ve come full circle with my writing in this atmospheric short story.  I actually began my writing career by writing short stories for Woman’s Way magazine, and it was seeing my words in print that spurred me on to write full-length novels.

I once heard someone say that writing short stories is like using a different muscle and it certainly does have a very different feel to writing a novel.  The scope that you can luxuriate in with a novel isn’t available in a short story.  Every scene, every word must be laced with a depth of intent that reveals so much more than your limited word-count can say.  I have to say, I really do enjoy it.  Not everything has to be explained so much in a short story.  It’s like a lightening strike – it just happens and all your left with is the afterglow, which should be bright and stunning.

I will be making this story available for download shortly, but until then, you can read it in full on Wattpad here.

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Betwixt – Chapter 3

Betwixt short Betwixt – chapter 3

Here is another excerpt from my new short story, available to read for free on Wattpad.  Enjoy!

“Hello? Can you hear me?” Catherine shrieked, as she rushed to her knees and put her arms around the man. He was wearing a very large, thick woollen over coat. No wonder she didn’t see him, she thought.

“Please, are you alright?” It was a stupid question, considering she had just hit him with her car, but the mind is wired towards optimism, even in the direst of circumstances. As though possessed by a person far more clear thinking and efficient than herself, she ran back to the car and flicked on her hazard lights. She grabbed a blanket from the back seat; she must have seen someone doing it on TV. She ran back and spread the blanket around him, already feeling better for being useful.

To her infinite relief, she could feel his body moving as he started to come round.

Read the full chapter here.

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Betwixt – Chapter Two

Betwixt short

Hello everyone!  Just wanted to let you know that the second installment of Betwixt is now available to read on Wattpad.  Here’s a little teaser:

Chapter Two

Lost in her reverie, Catherine had also lost her bearings on the road and wasn’t sure if she had already passed the cottage.   There was a small space to pull the car in at a gate to a field on the left hand side, where she stopped to have a think. Everything looked the same in the darkness. Shapes and shadows loomed ahead, offering no clues as to what direction she should be heading. Instinctively, she thought about calling Nathan for help. That momentary lapse of reason was enough to send her to the depths of her grief.   She cradled her head in her arms, leaning against the steering wheel, but still no tears came. Just an ache in her chest and the sour taste of resentment in her mouth. ‘What am I doing here?’ she thought to herself, not for the first time since setting out on her journey. She thought it might help, being in a place where they had been so happy together.   Their home was still tainted by all of the painful memories she just couldn’t bear to deal with. Being there, in his absence, was almost suffocating her.

Just then, a car approached from the opposite direction, its headlights casting a temporary light on her surroundings.   She could see the bridge was still further ahead. Immeasurably grateful for the driver’s impeccable timing, she shifted her focus back to the present and started the engine once again. ‘You’re doing the right thing’, she told herself, in that positive self-talk the grief counsellor had advised, and she shifted gears. ‘A nice cup of tea and a warm fire and you’ll be fine,’ she continued, feeling a little better already.

You can read the rest of the chapter here.  Enjoy 🙂

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Exclusive: A New Short Story on Wattpad

So I’ve been secretly working on a special little project – a short story to be released on Wattpad.  Watt now?  That’s what I said.  And then I immediately felt ancient!  This is how all the kids are doing it now – reading and writing as part of an online community.   Or ‘sharing stories on a social platform that connects people through words’, as they put it. Sounds interesting right?  And with 40 million Wattpadders signing on to read free stories, who can argue with that?  Once I discovered this innovative way of reaching new readers, it really got my creative juices flowing – the result of which is Betwixt, a gothic romance short story, that I hope you will all enjoy reading.

When Catherine revisits Hollowbrook cottage on a stormy October night, she crosses paths with a mysterious stranger who is not all that he seems. On a night when the veil between worlds is at its thinnest, all that is real and unreal meet in a nowhere place, at a nowhere time.

Betwixt short

The essence of Wattpad as a social platform is that writers can gain instant feedback on their work, so please feel free to comment, share and vote.  I’ll be sharing one chapter every week for the next six weeks, so to whet your appetite, here is an excerpt from the first chapter.  Happy reading 🙂

Chapter One

“We don’t get many visitors up here this time of year,” the old woman sniffed, pulling a hand-knitted cardigan tightly around herself. She looked like the kind of person who had never felt warmth in her life. Her brusque manner made it clear from the outset that she did not appreciate having to deal with guests this late in the season, or at this time of night. The old farmhouse stood at the end of a long and winding driveway, half concealed by immense pine trees and the darkening clouds that rushed across the mountains. It was late October and the rugged landscape had wrapped itself in a wild and inhospitable cloak of withering trees and faded grasses; not at all how she remembered it.

Read all of Chapter One here.