WeWriWa: Return of the Traveler . . .

Absence provides a step back, bringing the calm assessment one can't always achieve when in the thick of things. Having just returned from seven days in Arizona, a mini-retreat of mind and body from daily toil and frantic busyness, I can appreciate that zen of hindsight just as my hero, Connor Amberson does in this excerpt from my new re-release, SWEET TEMPEST.

None of this was as he'd planned. His stay in London was torture, so sure he'd been that she'd relent and beg him to come home to her. But as weeks went by and no word came, he grew more and more agitated, beginning to fear he'd made a terrible error. And when the missive came, its contents were not what he'd wished for, but was the excuse he needed for his pride to bend.

He'd prepared for two kinds of welcome: The fierce anger of a wronged wife, which he planned to quell after an exciting match of wills or, one of passionate apology, which he'd have accepted without reserve, but she'd outflanked him with this cool, indifferent demeanor, holding him at bay without giving him reason to protest. And then there was the matter of the closed door between their rooms. He rolled onto his stomach, eyeing that offensive portal with a jaundiced eye. He could demand she move into his room, he had the right, but his pride rebelled against resorting to force, and more truthfully, he had no wish to push her into something she found disagreeable.

If one good thing had come from his hermitage in London, it was the realization that Tempest Swift Amberson was permanent, the only woman he would want or need for the rest of his life, sharing his home, bringing his children into the world, growing old beside him. 

He knew how to seduce a mistress, but how did one woo his own wife?

KINDLE & PAPERBACK

Has he truly learned his lesson, discovering the jewel within his grasp instead of being blinded by the dazzle of greed and jealousy? We shall see.

As for me, my trip was part awe-inspiring research in Sedona. . .

. . . hurried hand-selling at the Tucson Festival of Books . . .

. . . and finally Vitamin D R&R poolside. I didn't get all the writing done that I wanted to but I found that clarity of vision I'd been searching for to pull my book together and re-establish my long-game writing plan. Worth the delays in Chicago O'Hare (both going and coming home!) and cursing daylight savings time. Now, to get back into the rhythm of my working and writing and resting life. And back into my shunning cats' good graces (Ed's Efffing cat would be proud of their snubbery!).

How's spring treating you, fellow Warriors?

Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their 8sunday posts.

Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.