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Chapter Eight – AG learns her fate

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

Chapter Six – The Wake

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Hey all,

Not too bad of a schedule, one month for a chapter, not super fast, but at least I’m making headway.

This was a hard chapter, AG made it through the funeral and has been coming to grips with the fact that she is an orphan and truly alone in the world.  Taking AG through this made me face some of my own memories of losing my parents, and believe me, it can be an emotional ride when you’re pulling those memories out to use for inspiration.  There’s no getting back those you love once they’re gone and through this chapter AG is coming to terms with that.

In this chapter we also get to know Mordecai a little more, how he feels about earth and what he thinks of Candied Apples.

“AG stood alone in her mother’s kitchen, the voices of the guests drifting in through the door that remained open to the rest of the house.  Around her the counters were covered with the remains of the food that had been supplied, as though food could fill the void that death created.  She looked into the sink, the dishes piled in it, they would need to be rinsed, she thought.  The cracks inside of her seemed to spread, but her eyes remained dry though a small part of her seemed to curl up like a small, lost child and sob.  Behind the ice the pain waited, the grief trembled.” – Excerpt Chapter Six Angel’s Gate

I think it’s a pretty good, solid chapter and the rewrite is going at a good pace.

Until next time,

L

 

Chapter Five – FINALLY!!

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Lord, this one took forever!  Or so it seemed, but I finished it today and I am very happy with how it turned out.  The story is going really well, I’m finally done writing completely original work and now being able to use the original first draft.  They are merging nicely.

This chapter was fun, got to know Mordecai a little more, had a deeper look into AG’s past and present.

“It was like a whisper against the back of his neck, a breath of cold air that sent a shiver down his spine.  He could feel it, the burgeoning powers of the Nephilim coming to life.   It rippled in the air, a delicious hum.  She was there, so close, and yet the old charms still protected her from his gaze.  For now…..

Soon the power of the blood spell would diminish, its creator lay dead awaiting burial.  All her magic, all her charms and protections lost, useless now to protect the child he had helped create.” – Excerpt Chapter Five – Angel’s Gate

Over all I’m proud of this chapter and I like this new momentum I finally got  going.  It’s been a rough few chapters but it’s finally going at a good pace.

Until next time,

L

Chapter Four

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Chapter four is finally done!

I hate to admit it, but this rewrite is taking me a little longer than I’d like.  I’ve been having a little trouble getting myself into my hero’s head.  I know him, I mean, I wrote the first draft of him, but for a few weeks now he’s been eluding me.

Getting the essence of Mordecai should be easy, I mean he’s a simple guy.  He’s a very direct angel.  Good is good, evil is evil.  He’s got a job to do and nothing going to stop him.  And that’s the problem.  He IS a simple guy.  He’s got a purpose and he’s not beating himself up about his job or his place in the universe.  So it’s hard to explain how inside of him, underneath duty and the reason he was made, is a small sorrow because he’s forever kept from his home.  A little sadness inside because there’s no going back to what once was.

And I think that’s what was so hard for me to get into his head, because for a while I thought AG was the only one going through this.  That she was the only one who felt that her life was being taken away.  But Mordecai’s already lost his past life, he’s on the other side, not going into the loss, but living in the loss.  And that’s where I was having the struggle, to understand where he was.

And he’s not the most loquacious dude, I mean, he’s not long on words, so getting him to show me what he was feeling has been like pulling teeth.  But I think I’m finally getting there.

“An angel with dark eyes watched the waiting horde of Forgotten, sweat and blood mingling as they ran down his face.  A dark warrior, with dark eyes and bloodied wings, he stood ready to lead, ready to die. His hair was black like his wings, tousled and spiked with blood and sweat.  His armor was bloodied as well, even the small linked plates that encased the base of his wings and their curving edges was stained.  Dark and rusty, old blood, his blood.

Mordecai moved through the ranks, watching, listening, waiting as he, like all his brethren, stood waiting for the war they all knew would come.  A war that would rage until the power of the Key was passed and the Gate renewed or until the last Power fell and the Forgotten gained their freedom at last.  It was an endless cycle, a continuous pattern that made up existence in that long abandoned place.  A Key would fall, another would be born and in the passing of the power the Forgotten would fight for their escape.” – Excerpt Chapter Four – Angel’s Gate

And FINALLY Chapter Four is done and we’re moving into Chapter Five.  Time to throw in a little violence, some hand to hand combat just to spice things up.

Well, until next time,

L

Update from behind the Keyboard

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Hi!

I’ve been working like mad on the rewrite of “Angel’s Gate”, and I would love to say it’s going awesome.  It’s not going bad, but right now each sentence is like pulling teeth.  But that’s not what I really want to talk about.  It has been the main focus of my life right now, it’s supposed to be the main focus of my life, but then bam! just as I was falling asleep one night my brain popped out with the whole beginning of Book 2 in the ShadowGate series, “Guardian Angel”.

During “Angel’s Gate” I fell in love with the Guardian, Gideon. How could I not? This gorgeous blue-eyed angel loves Froot Loops and where sweets are concerned he’s a hummingbird! The boy has one hell of a sweet tooth. He’s also just a true sweetheart with a heart of gold.

I knew while writing the original draft of “Angel’s Gate” I’d eventually tell Gideon’s story, but it was in a distant, vague, shadowy kind of way. Then of course the whole world of the ShadowGate grabbed me by the throat and I knew I’d be telling his story really soon. I HAD thought it would be once “Angel’s Gate” was done with the rewrite. Wrong! Gideon just had to have his turn in the spotlight.

So, I wrote the first chapter in eight hours and have been going steady ever since. I average about 10 pages a day, so if I keep up this pace Gideon’s tale will be done in no time at all.  Maybe even before I’m done with “Angel’s Gate”‘s final polish.

Well, I’ll keep you posted!

L.