Chapter Twelve – Not all Angels are Nice

Hi All,

So far we’ve come to understand that angels are nice and sometimes cuddly.  That angels like Gideon watch over us with compassion and mercy, that they are gifted with infinite mercy and patience.  Well, not ALL angels are like Gideon.  There are those like Mordecai who can be downright….snotty.

We aren’t the only ones learning this, AG is quickly leanring the angel she rescued is not the cute and cuddly “tame” variety she’s been used to.  He’s a little more prickly than all that!

“…’With that attitude I don’t know how you’re going to make a good guardian angel.  You’re so…ugh.”  AG said, this angel could be very frustrating, she decided.

He looked away from her, ignoring her – which made her grind her teeth – and looked at Gideon who stood, arms crossed over his chest, face sober, his sky blue eyes showing he was also irritated with the conversation.  “What do you think to teach me, Guardian?”

“Compassion.  Mercy.”

“Compassion and mercy.  Useless things beyond the Gate. I suppose you will wish to make me more human.”

Gideon’s jaw ticked and AG had to admire how he didn’t just punch the other angel in the mouth…” Angel’s Gate by L Becker

Until next time,

L

Enter the World of the ShadowGate and be saved.

Chapter Eleven – Awkward Family Reunion

Hello everyone out there in the big wide world,

I know it’s been a while since I posted, but I assure you I have valid reasons, like….life and stuff.  But then don’t we all.  Still, I’ve neglected this tale and it’s time I got back to the most important thing:  Telling you what happens next!

That being said, Chapter Eleven is finally in the bag and I can say it was a good one.  An unexpected run in with her father confirms AG’s darkest fears that there is no escaping this reality that has become her own. She might night be able to escape, but she’s ready to make some changes and get some control:

“….AG didn’t wake up a new woman. she didn’t wake up changed in any way, but she did wake up resolved. She was over being a victim, over letting everyone have a say over her life without consulting her. They were herding her into a Role she wasn’t sure she wanted to accept.

Ignorance was to blame and she took full responsibility, She’d done nothing but react since the morning she’d learned of her mother’s death. She’d been so consumed by guilt and grief, so overwhelmed by all that was happening she’d given up her power, her control on her life. Right now she might have been trapped and unable to leave, but that would not last. There was always a way out, always a way.

If knowledge was power it was time she got some….” – Angel’s Gate Chapter 11

I think we can all remember a moment when we’ve faced life and said, I’ve had enough, this was AG’s moment and I’m excited to see what she does about it.

Well, until next time (Hopefully a much sooner next time!) I’m off!

Talk soon,

L

Chapter Ten – It’s All Too Much

Hi everyone,

Chapter ten is finally in the bag!  It was  a little bit of a struggle, mainly because AG was done with it all.  An encounter with her father sends her running back to her old life.  She turned to spells once cast by her mother to block her from angelic sight and planned to run back to California to leave everything behind.  While writing this I wasn’t sure how I was going to convince her to come back home.  I’m still not sure.  This chapter ended with her heading out of town with a bag packed and no intention of coming back.

AG was so much calmer than she should have been given the circumstances.  Maybe she was calm because she didn’t really believe it would work.  She remained calm as she laid out the items her mother had listed once long ago in her diary.  Items Anna had once used to bind herself from angelic sight.  She was still calm as she picked up the knife and recited the words.  It wasn’t until she had scored her palm – as directed – that she began to have some doubts.  Not that it wouldn’t work, but that it would.  If it worked…The results would be all those she wanted but if it worked….If it worked it was another nail in the coffin of proof that she really wished would stop piling up.

Still…her blade didn’t hesitate and her voice didn’t falter as she read out the words Anna had once spoken.

“Ceanglaionn cumhacht mo fhuil dom o radharc aingeal.  Le fuil ta me ag sileadh, bac o neamh, dofheicthe do Dhia agus a aingeal.  Fola agus anail sealaithe o radharc.”

Each word held weight, each one held a meaning she didn’t understand, but one she could feel deep inside.  She could feel them, feel the spell, like a whisper over the skin.  She could feel it swirl through the room, invisible and silent and she knew the moment it took hold.  She knew though there was not clap of thunder, no dramatic magical effect.  She just…knew.

This time when she left home she didn’t hitchhike….” Angel’s Gate by L Becker.

Well, I’m off to start chapter eleven.  Wish me luck that I convince AG not to go!

Until next time,

L

Chapter Nine – Love at First Sight

Howdy All,

AG thought her life couldn’t get more turned upside down.  Well, she was wrong.  The ceiling opened up and an angel fell at her feet.  Mordecai, the angel who had saved her life only nights before was now helpless at her feet.  She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do, but she knew she couldn’t let him die.  Once more her life was turned over and everything she thought she’d begun to understand was changed.  She saved the angel, saved his life and in return his heart became hers.  She didn’t know that, or maybe she pretended she didn’t.  But it was hers and would forever be.

“…AG was surprised at how calm she was.  She was wrist deep in feathers and blood, still sporting just a thin cotton bra and her jeans while helping make an angel – A FREAKING ANGEL! – comfortable on a bed in one of the rectories rooms and she hadn’t freaked out.  It had to be shock, she thought.  I’M IN SHOCK AND REALITY HASN’T SUNK IN.  God, she hoped it never would. …” Chapter Nine, Angel’s Gate by L Becker

Well, Chapter Nine is in the bag and I’m happy to say I’ve finally put these two face to face.  This is where the story has been heading.  I have to admit I’m pretty happy with the results and am ready to dig into Chapter Ten!  Until next time,

L

 

Chapter Eight – AG learns her fate

Hi All,

I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated, but I assure you I’ve been writing!  I’ve completed Chapter Eight and am well into Chapter Nine, so thought it was time to drop a new post.  In this Chapter AG was introduced to the Archangel Elijah, the angel in charge of the Guardians on earth.

“…Father O’Hare caught the direction of her gaze, and still holding her hand in his, turned so that they both faced the other man.  ‘AG, this is Elijah, he is an -‘

‘An angel?’  It was a guess, but she suspected that he was the Elijah she had heard the other angels tell Gideon wanted to meet her. 

‘Uh, yes.  He is.’  Patrick said.  ‘How did you…?’

‘A guess?  To tell you the truth I’m starting to suspect everyone is.’  She laughed, but it wasn’t really humor.  It was the nervous kind of laughter that she used to mask how she was feeling.  The angel just looked at her and she wasn’t sure what to do.  Did she offer to shake hands or what?  What was proper angel etiquette?…” Chapter Eight, Angel’s Gate

At first she was a little nervous around him, scared what she was going to learn, not sure what the angels wanted from her.  But as they spoke she began to feel strangely peaceful and complacent.  It was then she realized that he was using his angelic powers to make her complacent, to manipulate her.  AG, being AG, shut that down pretty quick.  She is beginning to suspect that they plan for her to remain forever in Shelter Cove like her mother did, that she will be unable to escape and have a life that she wants, a life of choice.  It appears these angels will do what they can to have her choose their side, no matter what her human freewill wants, or what her bloodline might push her towards.

Well, that’s it for now, I’ll post soon as Chapter Nine is done and I’m on to Chapter ten, until next time!

L

Chapter Seven – Meet the Angels

Hello All,

I’ve finally knocked out Chapter Seven and I’m very pleased with the results.  AG is still coming to terms with everything that has changed in her life, getting to know her new Guardian Angel Gideon.  In the midst of the chaos she has her first encounter with the other Guardians and they are NOT what she was expecting.  She imagined all angels were light and kind like Gideon, she was wrong.  It seems angels could be more human than she thought.  She also learns that she is something else, something more than just the Key, something the angels themselves fear.

“AG lay very still on the couch.  Angels, more angels were in her house. She had the overwhelming urge to look and see if they had wings.  She didn’t move.

“And now this one.” The female, Haniel spat out.  “This abomination.”

“Don’t.”  Gideon’s voice was low, dark, sending chills running over AG where she lay.  “She is under my protection and she is the Claustrum.”

“Don’t make her out to be more than she is, Gideon, she just the bastard of a Shade and a human bitch.” Haniel sneered…..” Chapter Seven,  Angel’s Gate by L Becker.

She has a lot to absorb and she doesn’t even know where to begin.

On to Chapter Eight and the flow is going better, changing my perspective on this rewrite has really helped the word count and just the overall enjoyment of the book.  I’m excited to reconnect with Mordecai beyond the Gate and get another glimpse into Heaven.

Well, until next time,

L

Behind the Keyboard

Hello All,

A typical second draft is all about the SSSTT -sight, sounds, smells, taste and touch- you know fleshing out the story.  This however has turned into complete freaking rewrite.  I never expected or anticipated this much of a restructuring of the book.  Angel’s Gate, in its first draft was a good, solid story, needed some skin and meat on the bones, but I never thought I would change or expand SO much.

I think part of the reason it’s been so much more expansive is because when I originally started to write the original draft of Angel’s Gate I was a much younger woman.  Not just in years but in experiences in life and now when I picked the story back up and decided to continue it into the second book – which I have completed – and a third – which I’ve started –  I now have 5 years of experience that I didn’t before.  And mostly it’s not the years, but the mileage, as they say, the extent and vividness of those experiences.  I went through certain experiences that changed me.  I’ve also changed in my perspective of who I am as a woman and how a woman should behave and react, so my heroine has completely changed who she is because of that.  And my hero has changed who he is and the adventure itself has changed since my expression of life and how I view things has also changed.

So instead of just being a bump up of new,  or just fleshing out of the story, it’s become a complete rewrite, to tell a whole new story.  I’ve basically just taken the kernel of the idea I was trying to express, but as a younger person I didn’t have the skill to do justice to it.  So now, I have some more skill and hopefully will be able to capture more of what I wanted to express, because I’ve lived more and experienced more.

I didn’t realize how much I had changed as a person and as a woman until I started doing the rewrite on the second draft of Angel’s Gate and I am really happy with the changes in myself that I see and the changes in the story and the direction that is taking.

True, it’s taking much longer to finish, I’m way off the deadline I had set for myself, but I believe the results will be so much more worth it.

Well, until the next time I sit behind this keyboard….

L

Welcome to the New Year

Hello everyone,

2018 is here and I am looking forward to it.  This is the first time I’ve headed into the New Year without any dread, or foreboding hanging over me.  It’s an amazing feeling.  It’s been a long road to get to this point where I can face life fully and I can’t wait to see what this year has in store for me.

I had planned to finish the rewrite on “Angel’s Gate” by the end of 2017, but it has kind of taken on a life of its own and is NOT cooperating.  I love everything I’ve written, but it’s far from done.  Still, I’d rather have the story that it should be than try to finish quick just to meet a deadline I set for myself.

So, 2018 is when I’ll finish the rewrite and by 2019 the book will be ready for all of you to read.

Welcome to 2018 and I hope it’s as amazing as you all deserve!

L

ShadowGate Update

Hi!

In the land of the ShadowGate the words just keep churning out. “Angel’s Gate” is heading to the final polish and book 2, “Guardian Angel” is going fast!  I believe I mentioned I’d started the 2nd book a few entries back, and it’s going smoothly.  I’ve a feeling by the time I’m done with the rewrite of “Angel’s Gate”, “Guardian Angel” will be done and ready for its rewrite.  Pretty cool 🙂

The world of the ShadowGate is really expanding in book 2, I’m getting to learn a lot about the Angels, Daemos and Shade. I’ve also been introduced to a wonderful cast of all new characters, as well as gotten reacquainted with familiar ones.  Gideon from “Angel’s Gate” is back taking center stage. Some more old friends also make an appearance, but it’s the newbies that have me really tickled pink!

In this book we get a full look into heaven, meeting Talis and Vision, the leaders of the Choirs of angels. The Elohim, an ancient, and mortal race of godlike beings, are introduced through the disruptive Shamshiel, who likes to interfere with the earthly realm. An all new villain raises his head, the oily Master and his unfortunate Daemos slave, Shatter.

The most surprising new arrival of the tale is Lucifer. He completely took me by surprise and I’m a little embarrassed to say, I absolutely fell in love with this mercurial, playboy. (I admit it, he’s one sexy bastard that would make even a devout goody two shoes contemplate sinning). Needless to say, I’m having a blast and can’t wait to see what happens next.

Write soon,

L.

Chapter Seven – Memory Lane

Hello peoples,

This chapter found AG coming to terms with her past and trying to understand her mom.  It took me about a week to finish, but that’s a much better pace than chapter six!

“Her memories of that place and of those times were bitter sweet.  She had believed with full heart and full honesty.  She had never doubted or questioned even when she had been mocked for her beliefs.  None of the other children had believed what she did.  None of them believed that the angels were real, and they laughed at her when she said they were.   When she had been little it hadn’t mattered because she had believed her mother, and believed no matter.  But that didn’t survive adolescence, when childhood faith gave way before the realization that her mother was wrong.  Faith couldn’t stand against the reality she awakened to.” Excerpt Chapter Six Angel’s Gate

AG also takes us into her relationship with her fiance a little more.  Her feelings for Douglas are questioned and she isn’t sure what she feels anymore.

Well, on to Chapter Eight!

As always,
L