Welcome to my blog for this week's #WipItUp Wednesday blog hop!
I am so excited to share with you all the cover for my Western, hopefully due for release on the weekend! Those of you who've visited my blog before might notice the name change :)
Korey at Stormy Night Publications has done an awesome job!
On Sunday I shared the first 5 paragraphs of this book. Here are the next few paragraphs:
Johnny
approached Jessica warily, not wanting to startle her. She was in shock enough
as it was, he didn’t want to add to her terror. And that she was terrified he
had no doubt – he could hear it in her screams, see it in her eyes.
“Jessica.” He spoke softly,
crouching down on the ground near enough to touch her, but not reaching out for
her. “Jessica,” he tried again. She looked at him through her tears, but she
didn’t say anything; she was traumatised. Then she turned back to her family,
pressing her face into their bodies, trying desperately to will them back to
life. Johnny watched, helpless, as she screamed her outrage at the Indians,
wailed her grief at losing her beloved, sweet mama, then turned her wrath on
her father, collapsing on the ground beside him, screaming at his lifeless body
the loudest of all.
“You killed them!” she hollered,
beating at his brutalised body with her fists. “It was you who wanted to come west!”
she yelled. “We were quite happy, me and Mama! Now she’s gone and it’s all your
fault! And Petey! He was just a baby, with his whole life ahead of him! Now
he’s gone too and it’s all … your … fault.”
She ground the words out between sobs, gasping for breath. Her flailing
fists stilled and she curled up against the dead man’s chest, sobbing, her body
shaking, a broken woman.
Placing
a gentle hand on her shoulder Johnny spoke softly in her ear in what he hoped
was a comforting tone. “Jessica, look at me.” She didn’t. Gently, he took her
hands in his own and disengaged her fingers from the death-grip they had on the
lapel of her father’s coat, wrapping his arms around her securely and pulling
her in close against his chest. “Shhhh,” he crooned softly, trying to calm her
as though she were a baby. It worked. She responded to him, her sobs easing. Her
shuddering slowly stilled, she got her breathing under control and began to
relax in his arms. And she clung to him tightly, so tightly, as though she
would never let go. Then she looked up at him and began to speak.
“They came out of nowhere, they just
rose up all around us, as though they came up out of the ground. The wagons
were completely surrounded. I tried to tell Papa of the risk of Indians before
we left Boston but he didn’t listen. And now look ... look at them now.” She
burst into tears again, sobs wracking her body once more as she stuffed her
fist into her mouth trying to stifle her cries. Johnny wrapped his arms around
her tightly again, wishing he could shield her from the pain, wishing she
hadn’t seen her entire family, the entire wagon train, get massacred.
Keep your eyes peeled for The Ways of the West this weekend!
Meantime, as always, please check out the other participants in this week's blog hop - these fantastic authors always have great snippets to share!
Hi Kelly, congratulations on the upcoming release! So happy for you :) The cover is awesome. Poor Jessica, love how tender Johnny is being.
ReplyDeleteHugs
Roz
Thanks so much Roz! I know, Johnny is so sweet. If I wasn't already married, I'd marry him :)
DeleteCongratulations, and the cover is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ashe! :)
DeleteWow, beautiful cover and dramatic passage!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Renee! I love the cover too :)
DeleteWoo-Hoo... releasing day soon. Love the cover and the snippet you gave today is the best one yet. Very emotional and very tender on Johnny's part. I might just wanna marry him too. ヅ
ReplyDeleteThanks Melody! I'm starting to get REALLY excited now - release day is so soon!
Deletegorgeous cover :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! I love it too :)
DeleteSo heartbreaking! Congrats, and I love your cover!
ReplyDeleteI know, I nearly cried writing it!
DeleteBeautifully captured emotion, Kelly. Well done.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Maggie!
DeleteSuch a moving passage, thank you for sharing. Love the cover too.
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
Deletenice blog Kelly...way to go ahead a lot more...I would certainly follow your blog from now on....please feel free to get in touch with me anytime at shrinkfly.weebly.com
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