Images for PbF Epilogue

Following are images for the epilogue of Pinned but Fluttering. All of these places are real and are actually near the locations I used for the epilogue.

Twine Cottage in the Cotswolds--Edward and Bella's honeymoon cottage

This cottage looked the most like I imagined B&E's honeymoon cottage--kind of a cross between this cottage and the one in the movie The Holiday with Kate Winslet, Jack Black, Cameron Diaz, and Jude Law. The gate and fence are definitely from The Holiday--see image below:

Iris' (Kate Winslet's) cottage in the movie The Holiday

The following images are all from the interior of Twine Cottage (the top cottage) in the Cotswolds (central England) where E&B spent their honeymoon:

The lounge (living room) in Twine Cottage

The kitchen in Twine Cottage

Upstairs bathroom in Twine Cottage

Upstairs bedroom in Twine Cottage

And now to County Kent in Southern England where the Cullens finally settled:

Preston Court, the new home of the Cullen Family in Kent

Little Woodlands--E&B's cottage near Canterbury in Kent

The University of Kent at Canterbury where B&E attend college; notice the Canterbury Cathedral, the seat of the Anglican Church of which Carlisle now is a pastor. 

Thank you sooooo much for joining me on this journey through Pinned  but Fluttering. You all have made it a wonderful experience of writing and discovery, and I can't thank you all enough for your encouragement and kind support. 

With much love,
Cassandra :)
xxxooo

Note on Epilogue....

Yes, I'm still working on the PbF Epilogue. I ended up throwing out almost the whole thing and starting over because I didn't like what I had written--about 2000 words worth. 

And my husband had surgery yesterday out of state, and he'll be flown back Sunday morning, plus all three of my boys are sick, and from the way I'm feeling, I'm wondering if I'm getting it, too. I'm also finishing up the editing of a huge project I've been working on since July, and I start teaching two new online classes on Monday. Oh, and I have a stack of essays to grade. 

But I am working on the epilogue--I hope to have it up by tonight. I have it in second draft shape right now, and I'll have a ton of photos to post here on the blog. With the twist the epilogue has taken, I may be leaving it wide open for a possible sequel, but I doubt I'll write one. It feels "done" to me right now, but I did leave a few loose threads if I want to return to it later.

So, anyway, I am working on it, and I appreciate your patience. 

Much love,
Cassandra :)
xxxooo 

Images from PbF Chapter 55

Here are some images from Pinned but Fluttering Chapter 55:

Here is Bella's locket:

And here is Edward's note, in his own handwriting --sorry if it's a little blurry, but you can at least see how he wrote it in his copperplate penmanship:

And the locket engraving:

Bella bouquet--missing a few of the flowers I listed in the chapter but containing most of them. Don't forget: Edward picked them himself and Alice tied the ribbons:

And Bella's dress...only about 4-6 inches longer, hitting her mid-calf, and worn with white peep-toe pumps:

Bella's shoes:

And Bella's hairstyle:

Thanks for reading Pinned but Fluttering!! 

Much love and a Joyous Christmas to you all,
~Cassandra :)

Nearly There!

I have drafted the remaining chapters of Pinned but Fluttering during the craziness that was National Novel Writing Month 2012. Now I only have the epilogue left to write.

My posting schedule for PbF:

Chapter 53: Thursday 12/13

Chapter 54: Thursday 12/20

Chapter 55: Christmas Eve

Chapter 56: Thursday 12/27

Epilogue: New Years Eve

Because I'm not really into writing lemons, I'm saving the intimate scene for the epilogue so that readers who don't care to read lemons can merely skip it and be satisfied with the end of the story at Chapter 56. But for those who don't mind or enjoy reading such scenes, they can enjoy the epilogue. 

I have never written a lemon, so we'll have to see how it turns out. ;) 

But I'm really proud of all that I've accomplished with Pinned but Fluttering. While Evening Star, my first fan fiction story, enjoyed moderate success, the clamor over Pinned but Fluttering has been simply mind-blowing. 

On Wattpad, Pinned but Fluttering will reach 1.3 million reads by this weekend (officially it's at 1,298,880 reads as I compose this post, with over 8,000 votes and 6,235 comments). Its success on FanFiction.net has been more mellow but still flattering at nearly 150,000 hits and almost 1500 reviews between the regular story and the separate outtakes. 

Evening Star remains somewhat popular with over 750,000 reads on Wattpad and nearly 40,000 hits on FanFiction.net. I'm toying with writing a sequel to this first story, starting with Edward and Bella's reunion in Volterra, then covering the gap between New Moon and Eclipse. We'll see. 

I also have an idea for an original paranormal-type story. A few ideas, actually. We'll see how they pan out. One idea is such that I can write it as fan fiction but easily change the names and details later to make it original. Again, we'll see. 

But right now I'm thrilled to be almost finished with a story I started in August 2011. Yay!!

Thanks for reading!!

~Cassandra 
xxxooo

Racing Toward the Finish Line....

Well, I picked a very busy month to attempt to write 50,000 words before November 30th. Unfortunately, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) occurs every November, right in the middle of one of my busiest months of the year. 

So what have I been doing this month?

I've been inundated with essays to grad for my co-op high school writing class--two sets of essays from a class that's full past the class size limit. And the essays required a lot of commentary from me--corrections, encouragement, suggestions, praise. 

In other words: time-consuming.

Then I also am completing my online high school MLA research essay course with twice the number of students I had last year. And this month they submitted outlines, first drafts, and final drafts of their research papers, all of which required detailed grading not only of content and usage but also of all of the nit-picky details of the MLA format. 

In other words: crazy time-consuming. 

Then, add to that the fact that I'm trying to finish editing the first draft of an e-book on grammar for work, and we have complete and utter chaos.

And then I decide to try to finish my novel and write 50,000 words during this insane month?

I really should be committed. 

There are two days remaining of the NaNoWriMo challenge, and I have 13,000 words left to write. 

Well, that's a vast improvement over last year's challenge in which I posted 14,000 words on the final day, making the midnight deadline with a mere eight minutes to spare. 

This year my goal was to complete a first draft of Pinned but Fluttering while still posting weekly chapters (the editing along with the writing is positively killing me!) and perhaps finish a couple of one-shots I've started. 

I doubt I'll be getting to any of the one-shots. But I am starting the final chapter of Pinned but Fluttering and the next chapter is ready to post for tomorrow...I mean, later today.

And I have time to write tomorrow (Uh, I mean, today) both before and after teaching my writing class, and Friday is fairly clear. I still have the grammar book to work on and a chapter of Pinned but Fluttering to post online, plus three teen boys to homeschool, but I am finally seeing a glimmer of light at the end of the NaNoWriMo tunnel. 

 Even if I am writing this post at 2:00 in the morning. 

Okay, going to sleep now so I can teach and write tomorrow--uh, I mean, TODAY. 

Yeah. 

Writing furiously,
Cassandra :)

Bella's Ring from Pinned but Fluttering

This is my great-grandmother's ring that I started wearing when my own set of engagement and wedding rings could no longer fit over my swollen fingers, thanks to rheumatoid arthritis.

Sorry the pictures aren't the best; my hands also shake a bit, and even with the normalizing setting on my camera which is supposed to minimize shaking, I still have problems.

This ring was dated to the late 1880s-early 1890s, so should be just about right to belong to Edward's mother. I love it almost more than my own set because of the old-fashioned styling. I remember my grandmother wearing this ring all the time when I was a child, so I'm thrilled to wear it now.

When I have time, I'll write my review on Breaking Dawn Part 2--which I liked much more than I thought I would!

Take care!
~Cassandra :)