Excerpt from New Story

On Monday morning, I responded to a reader who asked if I would be writing a sequel to Evening Star, my first book-length fan fic. I told her that I wouldn't, but that my plan was to write several short stories from all four books, written from Edward's point of view. 


As I wrote the reply, an idea flashed through my mind along with the opening words to this new story. I sat down at my laptop and started typing, writing several pages of this story. I hope to work on this story this week during my vacation; we'll see how quickly I can finish it. 


The first title I gave the story was "Death and Life," but I've changed it now to "Resurrected." Here is a short excerpt for you; I hope you enjoy it!

But it couldn't be true.

Bella would never do...that.

She had promised. I remembered how dead her eyes looked when she had promised.

Perhaps Bella took great satisfaction in breaking her promises; god knows I broke all of the promises I had made to her...or had been on the cusp of doing so for months. 

I didn't know where I was walking. The streets were packed shoulder-to-shoulder with humans who shoved against my frozen body, but I didn't care. My eyes must have been black with thirst since I hadn't been able to feed in months, yet not one human scent tempted me despite their proximity.

Only when I thought back later to this scene did I realize that the people walking toward me were frightened by my blank stare, my eyes dead and black within a perfect white face. More than one thought I was the angel of death.

And really, I was.

The angel of my own death.

Because I knew exactly what I was going to do.

After all, the plan had been made long ago—a year ago when pursuing Bella through the shimmering streets of Phoenix to save her from James. I knew then what I knew now. 

I can not live in a world in which Isabella Marie Swan does not exist.

As I walked, I crushed the vibrating cell phone in my hand, tossing it into the nearest trash receptacle.

I didn't care who was calling.

They weren't going to stop me.

I will be posting the finished story on both Wattpad.com and FanFiction.net as soon as I complete it. I'm really excited about this short story; I just love writing from Edward's POV. He is such a fascinating character with so many intriguing facets.


Thanks for reading!! And I'll be posting the new chapter of Pinned but Fluttering tonight as well; Chapter 38 has turned out to be a pivotal chapter, and I hope that you all like it!! 


PS Sorry for the weird font sizes within the excerpt; Blogger is being a pain tonight! 


Take care, my friends~
~Cassandra :) 

Lotsa Stuff!!

Didn't you all LURVE the new Breaking Dawn Part II teaser trailer?? I declare, November cannot come too soon!! 


I'm also pleased to note that Evening Star passed 600,000 reads and Pinned but Fluttering 500,000 reads on Wattpad.com earlier this month!! Cool, eh? I just posted Chapter 37 of Pinned but Fluttering yesterday, and I hope to get the next chapter up very soon--Sunday or Monday. I hate leaving my readers dangling from a nasty cliffie, especially when I've rather developed a habit of doing so. But then, I haven't categorized this story on Wattpad as a "Thriller" for nothing...and in the Thriller category on Wattpad, Pinned but Fluttering is ranked #1! Yay!! 


But the BEST NEWS: I'M FREE!!!! Yes, I'm done homeschooling until late August, and I'm off work until July 1. I start a new position at the same company I've taught online classes with for the past decade, so I'm taking this week and next week to REST!!! And to write.... 


I have a couple of ideas for one-shots/short stories, plus I have that weird EPOV story I started over a year ago that I'd like to work on. (I posted the beginning of it earlier on my blog; here's the link if you're interested: "Two New One-Shots" ) It could actually tease out to a full-length fic, so I don't want to cut it too short. I'm still pondering that one.... 


I hope that this summer will be productive--a chance to really spread my wings and FLY with my writing!! I do want to eventually write some original fiction which would be really cool (and which my husband is encouraging me to do as it can actually make some $$). I am very much looking forward to the four-week fan fiction writing class I'll be teaching to students ages 13-18 on Brave Writer starting July 9. But I'll post more on that later.... :) 


So this summer will involve work and teaching for Brave Writer, but no homeschooling, no co-op teaching or grading, and probably little if any online grading. So out of my four jobs, I'll only have one going... ...which should give me plenty of time to WRITE!!!! As far as reading, I've been rather obsessed with the complete works of the following writers on FanFiction.net:


katinki
pattyrose
LadyGwynedd
ladylibre 


The latter only has one story, but it's terrific; the other three have loads of excellent stories to read, so do an author search on FanFiction.net to locate and enjoy their wonderful work!! 


Okay, it's nearly one in the morning and I'm driving up to Riverside and back tomorrow, so I'd better get to bed (where I am rereading AEGiggle's "The Wisdom Seekers," the only Twilight/Harry Potter crossover series I've found worth reading). 


 See you soon! 


~Cassandra :)

Back at the Keyboard Again....

Yes, my essays are all graded and returned, and my co-op class grades are all computed and distributed. Such a relief!! So despite the fact that I still have two weeks of homeschooling and two weeks of the online Shakespeare workshop class I'm teaching, the vast majority of my work is done for the school year. 


Which means...I'll have time to write!!! Yay!!!


So you can expect weekly Pinned but Fluttering chapters again, plus a few one-shots popping up here and there. I have jotted down some new ideas and can't wait to write them out. And of course they'll all be written in EPOV. Naturally.  


I do start part-time work for the website where I teach online courses in July, so I won't have a completely relaxed summer, plus I'll be teaching an online class in writing fan fiction for students ages 13-18 starting July 9 and going for four weeks. Here's the link if you're interested: Brave Writer Fan Fiction Class. Registration for this class opens Monday, June 4. The class is expensive, but for $50/week, you'll get a lot of hand-holding and feedback as we discuss trends in the fan fiction genre and produce a one-shot with a great deal of feedback from me and other students in the class. 


I've been reading some incredible fan fics lately, too. Check out the sidebar to see the list of fan fics I've read this year, plus the list of my favorite completed fics.  Enjoy!!! 


I was absolutely enthralled by pattyrose's It Will Be As If I'd Never Existed. Incredible story of the Cullens' reappearance in Bella's life nearly five years after Edward left Bella. Check out the lists for some other excellent fics. 


Okay, I'm going to get to writing today, but I wanted to give you all a little update. Thanks for sticking with me through this crazy-busy time; your reward is on its way with Chapter 35 of Pinned but Fluttering this weekend!! 


Take care, my friends,
Cassandra

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 :)