Sorry I missed last week’s post, but I was out of town (Chi-town, to be exact!) with one of my critique partners visiting her sister for a writers’ weekend. With all the sun, visitors, pool- and Netflix-time, not a lot of actual wordage happened, buuuuut something potentially Big Screeny did happen. I zoom pitched two of my contemporary romances to the executive producer of an Ontario-based film company actively seeking Hallmark-ish stories! What an exciting first! Not my typical topic, but I did write a handful of them for Kensington’s short-lived Lucky In Love line back in the ‘90s and two of them, now available through BelleBooks, fit the bill. The first was FROM THIS DAY FORWARD, written as Dana Ransom, detailing that awkward moment when you’re confronted with a near stranger the morning after . . . even if nothing happened! Widowed wedding planner Robin Lee isn’t ready to move on with her life, on to someone new, even if that someone spent an innocent night with her and now makes all sorts of not so innocent innuendos. Hard-edged news photographer Kyle Travers hasn’t a romantic bone in his body but the delicate and delectable female handling his sister’s nuptial plans has him questioning that determined stance. What if two broken hearts can make a perfect whole . . .?
Here’s the taste I shared . . .
Published: November 20, 2014
Length: 188 Pages
“How’s the coffee?” she asked, impatiently, the nonverbal suggestion, Drink up and hit the road. Contrarily, he took a small sip.“Strong and black, just the way I like it when I get up in the morning.”She got all edgy at that reference, as if struggling not to imagine him getting out of bed . . . or in bed, so he smiled at her, looking smug and lazy, and as inviting as rumpled sheets. And because he had her running scared, she blurted out the next sentence without forethought.“Last night was a mistake.”“I’ll say.” Just as she began to relax, Kyle added, “Next time I’ll put the chain lock on.”A shiver of desperate tension rose up through her. “There won’t be a next time, Kyle.”( . . . and a bit more . . . )Who was she trying to convince with that staunch claim? He didn’t believe it, not after the way her mouth had followed him down to the sofa cushions. Nor did she, not when he could see the way her hands clutched at the wedding photo.He could do one of two things—be a gentleman and back off to a cautious distance, or he could plunge full steam ahead to rock her off her safe pedestal of grief.Kyle Travers was a full steam ahead kind of guy.
Unfortunately (sigh), they’d just wrapped a series based on a wedding planner so . . . no go there. Buuut, she loved LIFETIME INVESTMENT (I’ll touch on that next week), a rekindling romance tale . . . which was unfortunately between a married couple. Not something they do, as their focus is on the first meet and fall in love type trope. Buuuut, she enjoyed my pitches enough to offer to pass my name on to other similar production companies looking for the type of content I presented. Squeeee! Okay, I’m not packing my bags for Hollywood any time soon, but it was gratifying to hear that I had the right stuff to reach smaller screens.
Moral of the story: The only truly missed opportunity is one not taken.
Happy Fourth of July to all who celebrate. I’ll be cleaning my grill in anticipation!
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.
Have a great 4th! We'll be bbqing and watching fireworks.
ReplyDeleteSame here!
DeleteHoly cow! That is so exciting--and wonderful to have that affirmation of the right stuff. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe snippet made me smile. I love her knee jerk response to him--and how he processed her comment about the coffee. In that short snippet, you conveyed so much abut their characters. :-)
Thanks, Teresa!
DeleteThat's a great opportunity!
ReplyDeleteSounds like she's actually looking forward to next time. Kyle doesn't seem easy to resist. :-)
I can clearly see him sitting there - coffee cup in hand - smug look on face. Tweeted.
ReplyDeleteWhat an opportunity! So glad you took it. Good news that she liked it enough to pass it on. Keeping my fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteAnd you know what a coward I am when it comes to promoting my own stuff!
DeleteThat's wonderful! I hope something happens for you in the near future. I liked the excerpt too.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Nancy. My computer won't let me sign in again so I commented anonymously even though I thought I'd gone through the correct steps to fix the problem on my end. Elaine Cantrell
DeleteThanks, Elaine!! At least I know who you are!!
DeleteI don't have it in me to fire up the grill. I'll be fixing a turkey breast I got from the food bank in a countertop roaster.
ReplyDeleteThe heroine of this tale is much less cranky than I am in the morning. Most people know to avoid me. My son is the only person whose head I won't bite off for trying to talk to me before I'm really awake. I fear I'd have told Kyle to take his coffee and hit the road, Jack. But that wouldn't make for a very romantic story, really. ;-)
LOL! Sounds like me. Before my first cup the rule is No Coffee No Talkee!!
DeleteThat is so awesome, Nancy! Congrats! And great snippet, lol, I could see her wanting to throw the coffee at him for some reason.
ReplyDeleteYay, I kinda felt the same way! Darn smug heroes anyway.
DeleteHow exciting! And that excerpt is wonderful.
ReplyDelete