Excerpt:
Annabelle lit candles and sat down on the floor. She tried deep breathing for a few seconds, and feeling slightly calmer, took her tarot deck out of its wooden box and shuffled the cards. She let her breath flow in and out; it lulled her, cleared her head, calmed her down, and the smell of the burning wax soothed her, as she tried to formulate a mature, non-attached-type question. Not: Will Wilson come back to me, please, please?
Her breathing hitched. Yeah, definitely not that. “Okay. The issue is… Wilson. Um. Do we have a future together?”
She turned over a card. The Knight of Pentacles, reversed.
“Damn it.” Reversed, this Knight meant carelessness, a standstill in affairs. “Okay, so if things are at a standstill, that means they can move forward again, right?” She turned another card.
Three of Swords. Sorrow due to loss. Well, duh, Annabelle thought, and then winced, as if she’d said it out loud. As if the cards could hear.
She turned over the next card. The Wheel of Fortune. Not always a good sign, though, as it could mean an unexpected loss rather than a gain, even when in the upright position as it was now. “I don’t know what any of this means,” Annabelle mumbled, knowing full well what it meant. This was all about the now, and she didn’t like the now.
At moments like these, Annabelle found it was usually a good thing to stop pulling cards.
Queen of Cups. She shivered. That was her court card. Good natured, intuitive, a loving female figure, one whose imagination often outweighed her good sense.
Strength. The beautiful woman grasped the lion by the jaws, symbolizing the power of the human spirit to overcome any obstacle. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The Sun. “Summertime? Two months from now? I’ll be better in two months?”
Annabelle gathered up the reading and returned the deck to its box.
She continued to sit. She tried to go back to the deep breathing but got bored. She thought about how she’d never had much luck reading Wilson’s cards. Maybe it never worked because it was almost always post-coital, the only time he was ever mellow enough to entertain the idea. She could never make sense of his configurations, none of the images seemed to relate to the others, she’d pull card after card and make a spread that was meaningless, confused. He would lose interest and patience. She would feel as though she’d failed. Ugh.
She’d like to blame it all on him, but she supposed her own muddled thinking got in the way as well; always hoping he was asking about the future of their relationship, whether she would marry him, whether she would like an emerald-cut diamond in a platinum setting, as opposed to a three carat marquis-cut in white gold.
Someday, maybe, she’d find that remotely amusing.
But not today. Rising, she left the candles burning and got some incense going as well.
Lavender: soothing, healing. She wanted healing. She wanted that fistful of pain out of her chest. She wanted all her lessons learned in a six-week correspondence course, she wanted a whole, strong heart, she wanted Wilson back, she wanted all the sadness to leak out of her pores, she wanted her life back. Herself back. Now.
The Book Junkie Reads . . .Reckless Dreams Interview with . . . Susanna Allen . . .
Do you feel that writing is an ingrained process or just something that flows naturally for you?
Years ago, I was sitting on my sofa thinking “This novel writing thing isn't going anywhere, I'm going to move on”. I held that thought for about three seconds before I laughed it off and got on to the next project. So I couldn't stop even if I tried.
It flows for me when I've got the groundwork laid. It took me ages to accept that my process isn't just about tippy-tapping at a keyboard: it's about moving through the world, walking, changing my perspective, changing what I am literally looking at. It's about doing sprints and letting things sit deep in my brain. Even if my word count doesn't increase in the course of a day, I'm still constructing my narrative. I get loads of use out of my notes app!
Do you take your character prep to heart? Do you nurture the growth of each character all the way through to the page? Do you people watch to help with development? Or do you build upon your character during story creation?
I build character during story creation, for sure, and often feel like they take over and lead me in the direction they want to go. They always, always do something unexpected and it's so exciting for me when that happens. I mean, I set everything up, obviously, and yet they do things that surprise me.
For example, and without spoiling, in That Magic Mischief, my female main character Annabelle is very easygoing, to the point of overly accommodating her friends. They meet up at a late stage in the novel and she drops some insight on them she would not have done, if not for her growth throughout the story. It was so much fun to write!
Can you share your next creative project(s)? If yes, can you give a few details?
The second book in my Regency historical/Shapeshifters series, A Most Unusual Duke, debuts on December 28th. The first book in The Shapeshifters of the Beau Monde, A Wolf in Duke's Clothing is out now, and the third book, A Duke at the Door, comes out next August.
I am also contributing to a SFF/paranormal anthology, which I'm thrilled about. It's my first time in an anthology and me fellow writers are top notch. I'll have more info about it on my website (susannaallenwriter.com) as it develops...
What are some of your writing/publishing goals for this year?
Definitely writing my story for the anthology! I'm also developing further titles in my Regency/Shapeshifting series.
I'm always working on increasing my platform. I'm on Twitter and Insta @SusannaAWriter and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Susanna-Allen-104736772001426
Where would you spend one full year, if you could go ANYWhere, money is not a concern? What would you do with this time?
I would figure out how to travel round the world by train. I was once meant to go to Russia for a horsemanship (horsewomanship?) workshop and I figured out how to get there from Ireland (via London and the Channel Tunnel). Sadly the workshop was cancelled but I think about doing it. Train are the best: I love the sound of arrival and departure announcements echoing throughout the station, watching the landscape speed by out the window, all of it.
Okay, I just got to googling this and you could manage it in three months but I would absolutely take my time. To end up in New York after the last leg going across America would amazing. Thanks for sparking this idea...
https://www.susannaallenwriter.com
https://twitter.com/susannaawriter
https://www.instagram.com/susannaawriter/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20487105.Susanna_Allen
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