Second excerpt from Cat, Charmed

So, sure, anyone could put out the prologue of their book as a teaser.  We did, after all.

But what about those authors who live on the edge?  Who think, nay KNOW, that they could pull material from the MIDDLE of their novel to tease prospective readers' palates?  Especially those of you who enjoy snappy, witty dialogue with a magical, mystical twist.  Well, fasten your seatbelts.



Our jaws hurt from all that smiling.  It's just not natural.

Here's the excerpt de jour from two up and coming authors:  (us, silly.)

She rolled over onto her back and held the phone up above her face with two hands.  Want to see you?  A warm frizzle of excitement ran through her.  That sounded promising.  She rolled back over and texted back.

Cat:  I’m home now.

His response came almost immediately.

Devin:  What you doing?

Cat:  Waiting for you to want to see me.

There was a pause, probably only a minute or so, where Cat wished there was a recall button.  Why would she say something like that?  What kind of girl was she turning into?

Devin:  Oh, I want to see you.  All of you.

Her insides felt as if she had swigged liquor, warm pooling in places newly awakened.  Her phone pinged another message.

Devin:  What are you wearing?

She looked down at her comfies and typed.

Cat:  Silk pajamas, matching undies.  Just took a hot bath.

Devin:  What color?

Cat:  What color do you wish they were?

Devin:  You’re killing me.  I can only imagine how soft they feel.

Cat:  Come on over and feel it yourself.

Devin:  I’ve been in your driveway.  Open the door.

Cat sat straight up.  Her hair pins had started falling out as she had rolled around on the bed.  Her yoga pants had crept up; her thick socks had pulled down, making her feet look twenty inches long.  She heard his soft knock on the door.

Oh, crap.

Silk pajamas?  Not even close.  This is what happened to dishonest people, she thought, as she ran into the bathroom, yanking the blackhead strips from her nose, wincing in pain.  She grabbed her robe, cupped her hand and smelled her breath.

Oh, yes, so sexy, she thought, running downstairs.  She hoped Devin could take a joke. 

She ran back into the bedroom, slipping a bit on the wood floor, grabbed her phone and started down the stairs.  Should she tell him she wasn’t ready?  Take some time to look a little more, well, presentable?

She could hear his gentle knock and texted.

Cat:  Costume change.  Be there in a moment.

Costume change?  Ugh.  For someone who liked to be in control of things, this did not feel like control. At all.  A hair pin tinked as it fell onto the floor.

Standing in front of her door, she looked down at herself.  Well, at least the hot bath was true.  Putting her hand on the doorknob, she began to turn it.  Then stopped.

Magic.

Laughing, she closed her eyes, imagined what she wanted to look like and focused.

 

 

Want to read more?  Of course you do.  What did she change into?  What was she wearing when she finally opened the door for Devin? 

 

Cat, Charmed, is available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

 

You know you want to. 

 ##

 

  

 

Excerpt from Cat, Charmed

“What do women see in him?  Why the big fuss over him?  Geez.”  Cat Hendricks leaned back from peeking at Devin Hughes sitting further down the bench seat next to his brother.  She took a sip of her hot cocoa and shivered, pulling the stadium blanket a little higher up on her lap.  It had been a beautiful and sunny day in Whitfield, with a November snap in the air.  She pulled her cap down a little further over her ears, and then waved a hand over her cocoa, spelling it with delicious peppermint schnapps. 

The thought of spending one more night at home watching HGTV was so unappealing that when her best friend Baylyn Travers asked if she wanted to accompany her and her boyfriend Declan Hughes to the Whitfield High School senior football game, she accepted immediately.  Anything to get out of the house for a while.

Although she didn’t especially like football, the thought of spending some time around people out in the fresh air beat out staying at home.  However, she had no idea that Declan’s gorgeous brother Devin would be there.  Sitting three people down from her.  Gah.

Two very attractive women sitting directly in front of and below them had been giggling and whispering to each other, then not so subtly pointing to Devin.  Cat watched as one winked right at him.  Cat rolled her eyes and nudged Bay.

“Gag.  Is it like this all the time?  Women throwing themselves at his feet?”

Baylyn took her friend’s mug and topped it off with hot cocoa from the thermos and whispered back to her.  “You mean Devin?  Cat, he’s really not that bad.  So he’s dated a lot of women.  That doesn’t make him…”

“A playboy?  Yes, it does.”

“It’s just what some people say about him.  Once you get to know him he’s a really nice guy.”  Bay got a speculative gleam in her eye.  “Maybe you should get to know him a little bit better.”

Cat’s jaw dropped open.  “Are you kidding me?  Him?  He’s not my type at all.  You know that.  He’s the one who told me…”

“…to get the stick out of your ass and loosen up.  Yes, I know.  You’ve told me the story a thousand times.  Methinks the lady doth protest too much.  I bet you secretly have a crush on him.”  Bay oofed as Cat elbowed her.  “Cat, seriously.  He’s employed, he’s good looking, and he’s funny.”

“Not a chance.  He’s an unrefined caveman.”

Despite all her protestations, Cat couldn’t deny that he was a good looking caveman.  A charming one.  Probably the nicest looking caveman she’d seen. 

And as long as she was admitting things, she sort of, kind of, had maybe hoped Devin Hughes would be at the game tonight too.

UW Writer's Conference 2014

Let me start by saying that my sister Jen Starkman and I had so much fun at the UW writer's conference this year. We had never been to one before.  Although we had both wanted to attend last year, my daughter was 9 months pregnant and yes I know Madison's only a short hour away if she had gone into labor while I was there, but I wasn't taking any chances so I didn't go.  Jenny missed in solidarity with me.

However, this year was a whole different ballgame.  We were free.  Unfettered.  Ready to go experience everything it had to experience and WOW, did this conference deliver.

Keynote speakers like Nathan Bransford and Michael Perry.  Workshops given by Kathy Fong Yoneda and Jackie Mitchard and Kristin Oakley.  Wandering through the room set up for people to sell their books. Networking with agents & small bookstore owners, trading business cards with everyone, meeting people from as far away as Australia (Lisa and Ion, talking to you) and of course having overpriced drinks with friends.  Pitching our first book Baylyn, Bewitched, to an agent who seemed to enjoy what she heard and requested contact information and the first ten pages of our book.

Jenny and I were asked to be on the success panel this year to talk about epublishing.

us, trying to be all cool and such, and failing miserably because we were worried about salad in our teeth

What an honor that was, and we found that afterward, we were both stopped together and separately by people with questions like, "What's it like to work with a partner?"  "How hard is the formatting?" "Is it hard to work with your sister?" etc etc.  I think between Jen and I we were stopped by no less than ten people. Of course, some of those stopping us just wanted to giggle over how much Jen and I look alike.

frankly, I don't think there's a resemblance.

We arrived Thursday night and didn't get home until last night.  We stayed up late reading and laughing. With two queen beds, we were able to hog the bed all to ourselves although it didn't do much good, as I got hardly any sleep Thursday and Saturday night (thanks, hot flashes) and I don't believe Jenny got more than 7 hours of sleep total.  It could be that someone else in the room was snoring keeping her awake a little bit, perhaps due to a whiskey assist.

Saturday night we ate at the Great Dane restaurant in downtown Madison on the square.  It was delicious and the craft beer was pretty darn tasty.  Saturday night I almost ate my flash drive.  Jenny and I laughed so hard that I almost really did choke to death on a piece of peanut.

In my defense, it wasn't any bigger than the m&m peanuts.  And such a pretty blue.  Doesn't it look delicious? 

All in all, it was one of the best weekends I've ever had.  The sister time I got was awesome and will hopefully tide me over til July.  We plotted and planned and discussed everything we had heard, compared notes from when we split up during the day to attend different workshops, and laid out groundwork for the next series and more importantly, the next book in the Whitfield Witch series, entitled Elise, Evermore.

I was inspired.  I was overwhelmed.  I was happy and relaxed and rejuvenated.

Can't wait til next year.

Deleted scene from Cat, Charmed...

Later that night, to take her mind off things, Cat decided she would try a new spell.  Another witch had suggested getting a group together and practicing some skills the next time they met.  Cat was tired of being the newbie.  She wouldn’t become proficient in anything unless she practiced.   The fact that she was feeling a little desperate, a little dangerous, only made what she was about to do a little more exciting. 

I look like a ninja, she thought.  This is hysterical.  Cat stood outside in the cool, pitch black evening, dressed in black bicycle shorts and a black t-shirt, holding a slim short broom she had picked up at the dollar store on the way home.

 

Cat's broom.  You have to find your own.

 

She had looked high and low for a foolproof, trustworthy spell to fly on a broom.  Finally she settled on three of the most reputable-looking ones.  They were all so similar it shouldn’t matter which one she eventually used, right?  

 

She ignored the warnings on all three that the spells should only be used under mentor supervision until competent.  Pah.  She’d been working hard on her witchcraft.  She was getting so much better.  It would be fine.

She closed her eyes, held tightly to her broom, and muttered: 

fly safe and fly fast

as treetops whiz past

keep me airborne I ask

 with this spell I cast.

The broom shuddered and kicked with barely restrained power and rocketed up into the night sky, dragging a squealing Cat along with it.

 

Later, at the immediate care center, the nurse took her vitals and gently cleaned up the scratches on her face and arms, then asked her how the injuries occurred.

“I fell off my broom while I was flying,” Cat deadpanned.  She winced as a particularly painful scratch on her forehead was attended to.

“Did you say the right spell?” the nurse asked.

Thinking the nurse was joking, just playing along, Cat decided to play it straight as well.

“Well, I thought so, but maybe I shouldn’t have rushed my first time.  It was a rough landing."

The nurse’s hand stilled, then briskly pulled up the right sleeve of her own shirt, exposing a long, thin white line of a scar.

“No one does well on their first broom ride.”  She gave Cat a rueful grin, then scribbled something on a small tablet and handed a square of paper to Cat.  “Say this one next time and you won’t leave a big, deep witch-shaped furrow on the football field.”

Cat looked at her, shocked.  “I never said where I landed.  How did you know?”

“My son plays football in high school.  I recognize white field chalk when I see it, and you had it all over your forehead.”  She patted Cat’s knee.  “Plus, I follow the scanner on WeCoven and they reported it.  I was wondering if someone would show up here injured.”

Cat's cheeks pinked, but she was curious.  “Have you ever done it?”

The nurse looked thoughtful, as if remembering something.  “I tried a very long time ago.  It wasn’t for me.”

“But flying on a broom sounded fun.  Easy.  Faster than walking, that’s for sure.”

“Can you run?”  The nurse was writing on her chart.

What kind of a question was that?  Everyone can run.  “Of course I can run.”

“Do you run everywhere, or only when you need to?”

“I try to never run, if I can help it.”

“Why wouldn’t you run all the time if it helps you go faster?”  At Cat’s sudden looko of understanding, the nurse smiled.  “Just because a skill is there doesn’t mean you have to use it.”

She handed Cat another paper, this one a quick spell for topical scratch removal, then smiled.

“Can I give you some advice?”

Cat nodded dumbly.

“Next time, take a buddy.”

 

 

***this book is currently with our Beta readers.  So far we have four enthusiastic thumbs up, which is a good sign.  The tiniest of revisions, which is also a good sign.  Then onto formatting, which I don't like but is a necessary evil.  Cat, Charmed will be out within two weeks, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

 

***"But this is cute.  Why isn't this in the story?"  Kill your darlings, they say.  Didn't fit, didn't advance the story, didn't belong.  But you, readers, you can share it with us.

Cat, Charmed: No, we didn't forget.

"Where's your book?" 

"I thought you were going to have another book out in the summer."

"Didn't you say you were writing another book?"


Yes, indeed we did say that.  In fact, my sister and I stood in front of a room of people at the beginning of June and said, quite confidently, "We should have Cat, Charmed done by the end of July."

Cat, Charmed is not out yet.  And there are Christmas decorations in the store.

It just turns out that this whole writing-a-book-with-your-sister thing is a little harder than it looks.  First, take the fact that you want to write a book.  That in itself is hard enough.  (Oh, you don't think so?  Try it sometime.)

Factor in that we live 80 miles apart.

Further factor in that we have between us two husbands, six children, two dogs, and a grandchild.

Oh, and that we both work full time.

Now you see what we're up against.

We both can write very quickly.  And have done so, time and time again.  And we certainly enjoy bouncing ideas back and forth, discussing scenes and characters.  Our passion for writing is only growing.

It's the part where we're tossing the incomplete draft back and forth that gets a little tricky.  And finding time to meet up, where one of us can spend 3 hours drive time in the car, that is tricky too.  Getting to emails or text messages.  Phone conversations.

There are sports activities.  Work meetings.  Writing meetings.  Real medical dramas, grocery shopping, exercising, watching childrens' sporting events, shuttling children to said sporting events, cleaning, cooking, and of course the extra cute, adorable, happy, I'm-so-cute-you-have-to-hold-me grandbaby. 

What's that?  You would like to just sit on the couch in your pajamas and watch TV mindlessly? 

You. Don't. Get. Downtime.  Turn on that computer.

I remember telling a fellow writer, "I would love to know what it's like to go home, change into "play clothes", and not have anything to do at night.  To actually say the words, "I'm bored, maybe I'll rent a movie/take a nap/read for a while."  (Well, actually I do read.  And so does Jenny.  And I have taken a nap or two.) 

"Instead", I tell her, "I go home and I have this compulsion to write.  To finish a blog, or outline a new story, or write a Prompt Club submission and look over others' submissions, or to just work on whatever it is that I'm writing at the time...short story or novel.  I have to be doing something.  But it's just that I wonder what is that like, to go home and not have anything to do?" 

She laughed.  Sadly, she didn't know either.

Well, for whatever it's worth, I think I'd rather have the compulsion to write.  To know I'm creating something of value with someone I value.  To marvel over the fact that despite differing opinions right on down the line on how our book should go, we both arrive at the end saying, "Oh, I just love this, and I cannot wait for people to read it."  To share a story we love with people we love.

Back to Cat, Charmed.  The book that we didn't forget about.  The book that we have worked on from May of this year until now.  We've been kicking ourselves for not meeting a self imposed deadline while ignoring the fact that this year, we have written two books!

Two books in one year!  While doing all the other stuff!

At this point, the entire book is written.  Not only that, we are half done with revisions.  We have purchased the cover for Cat, Charmed, which we both absolutely love.



These are Cat's legs! And her stockings!

Thanks for waiting.  We love Cat.  She enjoyed telling her story to us just as much as we enjoyed hearing it and writing it down.

You will see her very soon!

Beach read: Baylyn, Bewitched!

Local authors Christine Collins Cacciatore and Jennifer Collins Starkman have recently completed and self published their first novel:  Baylyn, Bewitched.  It's the first in the Whitfield Witch Series.

Baylyn, Bewitched is the whimsical tale of an unlucky-in-love, quirky librarian named Baylyn.  She falls hard for the sexy Declan Hughes, but is hiding a pretty big secret:  she's a witch!

Their ebook is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords, and they're currently working on the second novel in the series:  Cat, Charmed.  They can also be found on the web with their author page on Facebook or their blog, Cacciatore and Starkman Authors.

Cat, Charmed

Cat Hendricks is a bossy little thing.  She's an energetic little redhead who likes to be in control for everything and has almost made me late to get back to work from my lunch hour, simply because she won't let me leave without getting to a certain point in her story.

I like Cat.  Cat has a little bit stronger of a personality than Baylyn, although it's probably because she's hiding behind a façade of control in order to shield herself from hurt.  She definitely plays yin to Baylyn's yang; the two balance each other out quite nicely.  It's probably why they've been friends for so long.

Cat has a lot to learn about her new skills, but luckily she's got Baylyn and her mother, Elise, to guide her along the right path.