Another One-Shot in the Works

Okay, I'm working on a new one-shot for all of you, but before I can finish it, I need your professional advice.


Which Wattpad book cover should I use????


Please comment below with your choice!



Choice #1 with "Film Texture"



Choice #2 without Film Texture and a different title font



Choice #3 (although the first one I created)



So, in addition to choosing the Wattpad book cover, I thought I'd give you all a little sneak-peek at "The Long Night," a one-shot written in Edward's POV of a certain incident in Eclipse. Please keep in mind that this excerpt is from the first draft, with no editing:

“Bella?” Charlie called to her, and I heard her creeping past the back of his sofa stop and the whisk of air as she turned to face him.

I heard his gasp as he took in Bella's bedraggled appearance, her red, swollen eyes still leaking tears down her drawn, set face, her arms folded defensively.

His mind immediately jumped to the worst-case scenario: Jacob had died from his injuries sustained in his “motorcycle accident.” Why else would Bella be so horribly upset—crying like he had never seen her cry...even after “he” (meaning myself) had left her.

That hurt...knowing that he'd never seen Bella so upset over my absence as she was now. Not that I wanted her to suffer—God no! But Charlie's thoughts had planted an insidious seed, one that I should try to kill off before it germinated.

But it already had.

Perhaps Bella was saying “goodbye” to the wrong one of us.

If she was suffering so dreadfully over Jacob—and had not suffered so when I had left—then she would be miserable with me.

She must be staying with me out of some misguided sense of honor—of not wanting to break her word to me, not want to let me down.

Bella knew what I was capable of—my mad dash to destroy myself in Volterra just a few months ago must have affected her more than I knew. Perhaps she was afraid that I would attempt suicide again if she left, so she stayed with me out of a misplaced sense of guilt, not wanting to cause anyone harm—not me, not my family if I should be successful this time.

So she was willing to sacrifice her feelings for Jacob—her love for Jacob, for she admitted to me today that she did indeed love him—to keep me safe.

That was exactly the kind of thing Bella would do.

And the agony that accompanied this realization was unspeakable...the only time I had been in worse pain was during those indescribable twenty-four hours during which I thought she was dead in March.

O God—what have I done?

I couldn't allow Bella to sacrifice her happiness for my sake. Although it would be agonizing, I needed to let her go so that she could pursue the one she truly loved.

Engagement or no engagement.

I hope to have the entire story up by tonight, tomorrow at the latest. So please, comment on which cover you prefer and on the bit of the first draft I've posted here.


Thanks ever so.


Love,
Cassandra :)

New One Shot Started....

It's been a crazy-busy month for me. I've started a new one-shot called Her Wedding Day at least. I'm working on Chapter 24 of Pinned but Fluttering, plus I have serious plans to write an outtake of Chapter 23 from Carlisle's POV, including Bella's arrival at the hospital, her treatment, and the meeting with the wolfpack. So we'll see how all these things come together.


And on Wattpad, Pinned but Fluttering just reached 2,000 votes and 2,000 comments and also passed 115,000 reads. Wow!!! My Wattpad readers just blow me away with their extraordinary kindness and manic enthusiasm! It's wonderful writing for them.


And the best thing about writing these stories? The friendships I've made. On FanFiction.net I've made good friends with Natalia Mazaur, LadyLibre, and SleepMyBella (and I also beta for the first two out of sheer admiration for their awesome talent!!). On Wattpad I've made too many friends to keep track of--seriously. But with each chapter I get to respond to their many perceptive comments and kind words of encouragement, and I am so blessed to befriend so many writers!!


The best comments I receive on Wattpad are from readers who either 1) hate Twilight, or 2) hate fan fiction, but end up loving Pinned but Fluttering!! Talk about the ultimate compliment!!!

As a special treat, here's the beginning of Her Wedding Day:

She was utterly breathtaking.

Sure, she wobbled just a little as she started down the aisle on her father's arm. Only my sharpened sight noticed the slight catch in her stride and the nervous tightening of her hand on Charlie's arm.

But that was my Bella.

Once she raised her eyes from the ground on which she carefully stepped, her beautiful brown eyes latched onto mine, and I could see nothing else.

I'm sure that her dress was perfect—lovely and graceful on her slim form, modestly outlining her curves in a way that would drive me distracted later.

Later...much later...I would peel that dress off of my beloved, and slowly, surely, we would become one in body as we were becoming one in heart and mind and soul in mere moments.

But I couldn't focus on her dress now; I could only see her warm, chocolate eyes—melted chocolate—as warmth and emotion filled them. I could feel my own eyes burning oddly, too.

Our love was like that...full, warm, complete.

It seemed as though it took hours for Charlie to walk his daughter down the aisle, but it was mere seconds.

But somehow, during the passage of these mere seconds, I changed...from a boy to a man. My age and appearance may remain the same, but I would never be that boy again.

I was ready, so ready, to step up and become the husband of Isabella Marie Swan.

After eons of gazing deeply into each others' souls as she drew ever nearer on her father's arm, she was here.

At my side.

Forever.

WIP Recommendations:

Within Reason by JA Mash

Words with Friends and Words with Strangers by Nolebucgrl

Serenity's Prayer by ladylibre

My Guardian Destroyer by Natalia Mazaur

(And yes, I beta the last two!)


Enjoy!!!!!

Well, it's 1:00 AM, so I suppose I ought to attempt to sleep sometime....

Love to you all--

Cassandra

Two New One-Shots

HAPPY NEW YEAR, DEAR READERS!!!

I have a little surprise for you all. Despite being a day late in posting the next Chapter 20 of Pinned but Fluttering, I've also started two one-shots. And they're both written from Edward's point-of-view.

Neither one is very cheerful; I hope that the despair I'm writing won't be an indication of the dominant tone of the new year.

One is canon, called A Long Night taken from Eclipse. It's Edward's POV of the night when Bella cries over Jacob. I've only written a couple of pages; we'll see how it goes. It's intriguing, but not quite as intriguing as the second story which is partially canon.

The second story is at about five pages and is called The Last Day, and it's partly canon, but mostly not. I'm not going to say too much about it, but my hope is to finish it by next weekend. Here's a short excerpt from the rough draft. Let me know what you think:

I had been practically catatonic for the first two years after I left her. I had fled my family immediately after leaving Bella, throwing myself into my Volvo and driving mindlessly into the wilds of Canada, stopping only to refuel the car.

I finally ended up on the shores of a gigantic stretch of water in the northeast of Canada—Hudson Bay I discovered later. There I had parked the car on a deserted dirt road and walked to the edge of the water where I sank to my knees, sobbing tearlessly.

I don't know how long I stayed there, curled up, arms wrapped around my knees, knees under my chin, rocking back and forth as the grief overtook me, my eyes remained unseeingly fixed on the calm waters. I'm sure that Alice must have seen me there, but she must have persuaded the family to let me alone. I was grateful for the solitude; it was all I asked of my empty existence.

The snows soon came, and I remained on the shores of Hudson Bay. I didn't feed—I just couldn't. I could hear the rustling of prey very near: deer, elk, moose, foxes, but I couldn't unfold my body to hunt them.

My body weakened, even the silent rocking of grief finally slowed then stopped as the effects of not feeding took its toll on my immortal body.

The cell phone in my pocket was long dead, probably ruined by the rains that beat down upon me and the snows which built up around me. The only movement I made was to higher ground once the snows arrived—to a large rock that I could easily clear to keep the snows from swallowing me. Not that I would have cared. The persistent cold matched the cold in my heart—the iced over organ that once had glowed with warmth as my lips had met hers....

But stop. I wouldn't let myself think of her; it was too painful. I was barely hanging on as it was; adding memories of my beloved at that time would have ended me.

As she told me later, it was mid-February when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Although I had not detected her thoughts—or theirs—as they approached me, I did not move when I felt her touch.

She bent down in front of me, blocking my view of the iced-over inlet of water that had been my focus for the last five months.

“Edward?” she whispered. “Edward?”

I didn't blink. She looked over her shoulder. “Jazz?” she pleaded softly. She told me later that Jasper was overwhelmed with my despair so much that he had fallen to his knees behind me. He had gathered his forces as well as he could and tried to force his calm, his peace, on me, but nothing could penetrate the silent, private hell in which I had encased myself.

So, anyway, I plan to edit Chapter 20 of Pinned but Fluttering and post it later tonight, then I'll keep working on The Last Day all week and hopefully I'll have it up by next weekend.

Happy New Year, my dear friends!!!! :)

With best wishes for a blessed 2012,
--Cassandra

PS Chapter 20 of Pinned but Fluttering is now up! Enjoy!!