The Scene That Wouldn't Die

Before I decided to pursue writing as a second career, I would sit in my car during my lunch hour and write. I'd write a poem, or a journal entry, always something. One day a scene just popped into my head.

I saw a girl sitting alone on a rock looking out across a lake. She was lonely and bereft. Her name was Emily. I began to write. I captured all the sensory details in my mind and wrote that scene. Suddenly someone pushed her so hard she catapulted into the icy water. Before she overcame the shock and surfaced, hands gripped her legs and pulled her deeper. I finished the scene and some of her backstory. Her sister had been killed and the "killer" was pursuing her even though she had changed her name. She was on the run, but he wouldn't give up.

A few years later, after having several nonfiction stories published, I remembered that scene and decided to write "Emily's" story. I wrote a few chapters and decided something just wasn't right. So, I started playing "what if" and "why".

The story emerged into a totally different one. Emily became Beth, her sister became her twin, and the first chapters allowed the readers to see them together, feel the love, the bonding, and experience their "psychic bond." The story emerged into my romantic suspense novel, HIT AND RUN.

The scene appeared in the story, but it just didn't feel right. I tweaked it, and finally rewrote it. Here's the scene:

She sat on the dock, worn smooth from weather and age, and circled her legs with her arms. The sun warmed her back. She was at peace, wrapped in memories of happier times as she gazed across the water.

A fish jumped, creating ever-widening circles that ebbed toward shore. She turned her face up to the sky where fluffy white clouds billowed, moving and changing shape. When they were small, she and Jilly had been able to find shapes within the clouds. She could hear Jilly's juvenile voice calling, “Look, Beth, a dragon. See his tail and the fire coming from his mouth?”
So many pleasant memories surrounded her, filling her with a calming peace. She fished until the sun rose higher. Slipping off her shirt, she applied sun lotion as best she could in the areas her bathing suit didn't cover. She stretched out on a towel. The quiet lapping of the lake against the dock supports lulled her into closing her eyes. Though she didn't really fall asleep, her body relaxed and she drifted in hypnotic half-awareness.

Her stomach growled. If she weren't so comfortable, she'd open the cooler and eat lunch. The sun felt so good. The lapping against the supports increased a bit. Someone must be out on the lake in a boat, but she didn't want to open her eyes. Her muscles had totally relaxed and too soon she'd have to turn over to avoid burning. She drifted close to sleep, not wanting to move a muscle. Suddenly, an icy strong hand banded around her ankle and pulled her toward the water.

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HIT AND RUN is available through my publisher The Wild Rose Press in both print form and ebook formats.

You can also purchase from Fictionwise in ebook format.

If you want print format, you wlll also find it available at Amazon.com