Real Life Interruptus....

I know.


I know, I know, I know. 


I've been dreadfully neglectful of you all. 


But it's been an incredibly busy semester, one that I shall be delighted to finish. Besides home schooling my three boys (grades 6, 9 and 11), I am teaching two classes at our twice-monthly home school co-op (high school expository writing and 4th-6th grade medieval history), plus since January I've taught five online courses in grammar, poetry, literary analysis, and Shakespeare. It's been truly crazy, and I've been fortunate to remain somewhat sane despite working until 2:00 a.m. or later to keep up with it all.


In addition, I've led three weekend workshops in journaling (and two on blogging) at the Pine Valley Bible Conference Center's Spring Women Conferences and Mother-Daughter Conference.  


So, as a result of this crazy schedule, I've had to curtail some of my postings for Pinned but Fluttering as I've just been too busy. 


However, the GOOD NEWS is that the reads/hits of my fan fic stories on Wattpad have topped ONE MILLION. Wow. Thank you to all my Wattpad readers--you're amazing!!  


So I offer my apologies for my neglect and once June rolls around, I'll have much more time to devote to you and to the writing of fan fics. 




Thanks for your kind patience,
Cassandra :)

Bad News and Good News

Cover for On Our Way Home as designed by Cassandra Lowery

Well, I have bad news and good news. 


The bad news? 


 I don't have a new chapter of Pinned but Fluttering for you this weekend. Work just slammed me. Between finishing up one online literary analysis class on Alcott's Little Women on Friday (and still having final essays to grade and return), I'm also starting to teach a literary analysis class on Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice on Monday. I put up twelve posts over the weekend, everything from class schedules to assignments for the coming week. I was up working until 4 AM yesterday morning, and here it is past midnight already.... Plus we're back to home schooling tomorrow, too. 


So I'll work on the next chapter of Pinned but Fluttering as quickly as I possibly can, despite grading final essays on Alcott, preparing more lessons for The Merchant of Venice, and planning my own three boys' school schedules and actually teaching them something.... Gosh, it's going to be a hellish week! :)


The good news? 


 I completed On Our Way Home. It's up in its entirety on FanFiction.net (see sidebar), but I've broken it into four chapters on Wattpad.com, posting one chapter a day. I've found that posting longer works doesn't work well on Wattpad although the site is being weird about my posting separate chapters.... 


 I made a quick cover for Wattpad which is pretty sucky (see first image), so I'm happy to accept new covers from volunteers.... ;) 


In fact, Lexi on Wattpad made me a lovely new cover for The Long Night; see?

Cover for The Long Night as designed by Fusiee's friend, Lexi

Isn't it gorgeous???? Thank you, Lexi!! :) 


So keep your eyes peeled for more chapters of On Our Way Home on Wattpad plus a new chapter for Pinned but Fluttering later this week, if I can possibly manage it....


Warmly yours, 

Cassandra :)

Fandom for No Kid Hungry

I'm donating an outtake from Pinned but Fluttering for Fandom for No Kid Hungry. It will probably be in Carlisle's point-of-view, but possibly in Edward's as Bella leaves the Cullen home, covering Chapters 31-32. 


So you can go to the link for Fandom for No Kid Hungry and make a donation! The stories won't be up until this summer, and there will be quite the compilation of stories--outtakes, future takes, new chapters, and one-shots from some amazing fan fic writers. 


Here's the Schedule of Important Dates:

• May 19, 2012: Sign-ups close
• May 25, 2012: Teasers due
• June 1, 2012: Stories and donation receipts due
• June 10, 2012: Compilation released
• June 22, 2012: Authors may publicly post their stories

I'm thrilled to be part of such a noble cause. I've seen so many cool fandom causes, but this one is near and dear to my heart. 

So come check it out and get involved!!! 


With love to you all, 


Cassandra :)

Excerpt from "Pinned but Fluttering" Chapter 31

I stayed up until two o'clock in the morning, working on this chapter. I have about four pages written so far, so I'm about halfway done with the rough draft. My hope is to post the completed chapter by Saturday at the latest.

Thanks for your lovely support and encouragement! It's because of YOU that I stay up writing at two in the frickin' morning!! :) 

So let me know what you think, okay?

                          *****

From Chapter 30:

“Esme, you'll tell me the truth, right?” I asked. 

Esme nodded, her forehead creased with concern as she gently squeezed my hand in encouragement.

“Okay,” I repeated, psyching myself up to ask the real question now. I looked at her steadily, ignoring the spiking of my heart as I asked quietly, “Esme, I know that you can't tell me much about what you all really are, but I need to know one thing. Just one thing.”

I took a deep breath, then whispered, “Esme, is it really, truly safe for me to stay here with your family?” 

Chapter 31: 

Esme's eyes never left mine, but I felt her grip on my hand tighten almost imperceptibly. She hesitated for a moment, then opened her mouth to answer my question as two figures appeared in the doorway with a suddenness that made me jump with surprise. 

Carlisle and Edward entered my room together, both of their expressions grim. From the frequent glances that Carlisle kept directing toward Edward, I caught Carlisle's anxiety...he was worried about Edward.

But why? 

It didn't help that Esme was giving Edward similar worried looks.

What the hell was going on here? 

As the silence stretched, I became impatient. I scooted myself up in my bed to a sitting position, declining Esme's quiet offer of help. She did shift a couple of pillows behind my back to help me sit up more comfortably, and I gave her with a thin smile of thanks.

“Will someone please answer my question?” I asked, trying to keep the impatience out of my voice but unable to suppress a slight nervous quiver. “Is it really safe for me to stay here with you all?”

Carlisle and Edward spoke at exactly the same time, their emphatic voices overlapping but still easily understood. “Of course you're safe in our home,” Carlisle started, then stopped as Edward's voice overtook his in intensity as well as volume.

“No, you are in great danger if you stay here,” Edward stated flatly. Then as Carlisle stopped speaking, Edward continued alone, “You are in danger at this very moment, as you have been since you first set foot on the grounds of Forks High School.” The sincerity of his midnight black eyes bore into mine, and I couldn't stop the shiver of fear racing up my spine. 

Here, at last, was the Truth.

 “Edward, you're exaggerating. Don't frighten Bella, dear,” Esme pleaded.

“No,” Edward raised his voice slightly as he turned to his mother. “I am not exaggerating in the slightest, and Isabella needs to be frightened...so frightened that she leaves...and never returns.”

                                                                          *****

Okay, there it is. I'm still working on "On Our Way Home," too; I'm just not sure when I'll finish it. Although I'm off next week, I have a lot going of grading to do for my online and co-op classes, plus it's my daughter's 20th birthday on Easter Monday, so we'll probably go see Titanic in 3D. 


And I have massive grading to do all day Tuesday and Wednesday, then classes to teach all day Thursday, then taking the boys to tutoring, then to lessons on Friday. So this week is MY week for writing the extra story and getting ahead on my other ones (yes, I'm working on three right now--all for YOU!). 

So we'll see how this week pans out and how much I can get done while still trying to REST during my break.... ;) 

Much love to you all,

Cassandra :)  

Teaser from New Story "On Our Way Home"

"On Our Way Home" was the first one-shot I started writing last summer, I think. I hadn't touched it much since then; it was barely over a page and needed some major re-vamping (please forgive the pun).


I'm thinking that, unless I run into a major case of writer's block, I should be able to complete this story as a special Easter gift (in addition to Chapter 31 of PbF).


So here's the beginning of it...and I hope that you like it (or absolutely adore it!!). And yes, it's short.... :(

"On Our Way Home"
EPOV from New Moon


After helping Bella into the window seat, I placed her backpack in the small compartment over our heads while Alice slid hers next to it. I gently closed the door before moving in from the crowded aisle as tired tourists filed past us, toting their carry-on bags. Sliding into the aisle seat, I gazed once again into the beautiful eyes that I had never thought to see alight with life again.

Bella gave me a tight smile, the same smile I had seen pass over her features only a few times since we left Volterra hours ago.

There was something very wrong with that smile, haunting me, mitigating the joy that had exploded within me in that shadowed alley as I realized that I held a living, breathing Bella in my arms, the joy that had been renewed when our safety became a reality as Alice guided the stolen sedan out of Volterra limits.

Thankful for the wide first class seats that Alice had insisted upon, miraculously obtaining them with much sweet talking and several generous bribes, I lifted the dividing arm between our seats, placing my arm around Bella's too-thin shoulders and pulling her against my chest. Now she could sleep at last. Ignoring Alice's frantic whispers to Jasper on her cell from the seat behind me, I sighed as I noted again the changes in Bella's appearance: the deep purple circles under her eyes, the dull paleness of her face, the lankness of her once-shiny hair, the loss of fifteen pounds of weight, and, most concerning of all, the tug-of-war behind those beautiful brown eyes. Gazing into them once again as I cupped her thin face in my palm, I saw her love for me war with uncertainty, hurt, anxiety, and, worrying me the most, fear.

What was Bella afraid of now?

So, please, let me know what you think. And, yes...it's short and terse...still in rough draft form. But I have always been captivated by these scenes in the book and with my opportunity to play in Edward's POV...why not?


Have a wonderful week, my writerly and readerly friends!!


Warmly,

Cassandra :)

Excerpt from Chapter 30 of Pinned but Fluttering

I've started writing the much-anticipated Chapter 30 of Pinned but Fluttering. Yep, last night at nearly two in the morning, I sat in my bathroom, scribbling dialogue and details onto two-inch-square Christmas-themed Post-Its. I ended up with seven closely-written Post-Its that I transcribed with my now-beloved Dragon Speech-to-Text software this afternoon.


Because I left my readers hanging with a fairly nasty cliffhanger at the end of Chapter 29, then posted an Outtake after Chapter 28 (in Edward's POV, no less), I felt that you all deserved a sneak peek into Chapter 30.


NOTE: This is a very rough draft of the first words of the chapter; they may be altered quite a bit in the final draft. (Or not.)  And it's fairly short....


Okay, you ready for this????


Chapter 30

"Edward? Please," came Carlisle's clear voice, clipped and tight with stress.

At long last, Edward halted his manic pacing, electing to lean against the wall nearest the grand staircase. He rested the back of his head against the wall, closing his eyes and sighing dramatically. His face was drawn, as if he were being pulled to pieces on some medieval torture device. I could not figure him out for the life of me...but I found myself relaxing slightly as his frantic movements finally stilled. But his agonized expression kept me tense with a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach....

The lovely Rosalie rolled her eyes in perturbation at Edward's melancholy histronics, apparently quite at the end of her extremely limited patience when it came to Edward...or me.

My eyes flew from one Cullen to the next, noting the too–serious expression in every single pair of golden eyes. Everyone was strung nearly as tightly as Edward...and that was really saying something. Even Esme and Carlisle looked abnormally anxious, exchanging frequent and rapid glances of reassurance to one another.

After sending each of his family members a silent warning to let him speak--something I caught onto but probably wasn't supposed to--Carlisle leaned forward, his jaw tight with concern as he spoke quietly. "I'm nearly certain that you have some questions for us, Isabella. Am I correct in this assumption?"

My throat suddenly seemed desert–dry. Clearing my throat once, then twice, it still remained too dry for speaking. Panicked, I looked to Esme, my hand raised to my neck in a silent plea for a drink.

Nodding in understanding, Esme disappeared for a moment, then re-entered the room with a tray bearing a full crystal pitcher and three tall tea glasses which she set on the coffee table before me. Carlisle reached for the pitcher, which seemed to be filled with lemonade, and poured half a glass, silently passing it to me. Grasping the tall glass in both hands, I gulped down several swallows of the sweet-tart lemonade. It was so like Esme to consider my comfort above all else and make me one of my favorite drinks, even during this extremely tense time. I nearly choked in my eagerness to drink, and, as I spluttered, my eyes flew to Emmett who was attempting to stifle a laugh behind his huge hand.... I muffled my smile, realizing that humor was highly inappropriate in this tense setting.

At my awkward spluttering, Edward had pushed off from his position along the wall as if to help me. Apparently he determined that I was only klutzy and in no real danger as he woodenly turned away, the fingers of one hand gripping the bridge of his nose, and returned to his place against the wall...all without uttering a sound.

I took another long--and this time slow--drink from the glass, then set it down carefully on the tray. Before I responded, I looked into Carlisle's eyes which had always calmed me before--but his obvious worry brought me no peace this time.

I would have to answer his question, remembering how he had spoken, quietly fearful, as if my reply could ruin a great deal.

As perhaps it could....

"Yes," I managed to croak at long last, looking only at Carlisle. I swallowed nervously, then continued, "Yes, I have some questions for you."

I took a deep breath, and then the questions began pouring from my lips in an uncontrolled rush....

There! I hope you enjoyed the beginning of Chapter 30. I hope that it all falls together well as it's a pivotal chapter in the story.

Thanks for reading and for supporting me so beautifully!!!!

With love to you all,

Cassandra :)