Nuggets
Excerpt From the Book - Retribution | Chapter 7
Of course, the joy would fade, as Susan’s life was already on a course with disaster. Thrust into a world she would never truly understand, she would become a victim. She’d become a victim of her own naivety. Nothing that she knew and believed to be right, or good, would remain so.
What Motivated Me to Write | Tantrum
The motivation for TANTRUM came to me one night in a hotel room. I used to travel frequently for work, and one night before drifting off to sleep, I visualized the room used by a madman who tortured our protagonist in the opening scene. It was the perfect environment to add effect for how I wanted the story to begin. I can remember thinking how it just felt right as I wrote that scene.
The interesting thing about this story, while not too uncommon, is that every action of Mathew, the protagonist, is in direct response to something the antagonist did. He was simply incapable of confronting his one overpowering demon.
Even more interesting is the fact that as I wrote this, I could not define the antagonist until just about at the end. I struggled throughout the writing process to admit, or maybe I didn’t want to admit, the obvious. But once I could stand back and look at the overall picture, there really was no denying who it really was.
I suspect that, unlike me and my blinders, readers won’t have a problem identifying the antagonist. It’s an interesting story and I think you’ll like it.
Scene from the book | Retribution
So this was a really important scene. If there are any prologue skippers in the crowd, you may not want to skip this one. This is the scene that set the stage for the entire story. In fact, it was the vision of the room which prompted to me to write the story. This is Shawn’s bedroom. It was an unusually dark night. There was a monster storm outside that had knocked out the electricity. The lightning felt so close she sometimes thought it was in the room with them. She looked up as a bolt came blasting through a window and she thought for sure it hit her. As she glimpsed herself in a mirror, she noticed all the blood on her clothes. She looked back to see Shawn on the bed, engulfed in lightning. But she didn’t care. She was there on a mission, and the manner in which Shawn died wasn’t of concern.
What I’m not showing here is the mental state of the woman at the window. Nor do I explain why she’s there. I, of course, won’t tell you who she is. If you’ve seen excerpts on other areas of the site and think you know, you’re probably wrong.
I enjoyed writing this scene. I had put it off for a while because I was busy with other projects. Once I started, it was easy to bust out the first few chapters. If you get a copy of the book, don’t skip the prologue, or you won’t get the ending.