Excerpt from L.A. Jefferson's Upcoming Book

An excerpt from my upcoming novel, Reconciliation to Hell

A jolting noise stirred Sandra out of her sleep. Unsure of where it came from she tried to pull herself out of the bed to find out, but failed. She couldn’t move her body. And the more she tried the more it hurt. From her head to the tips of her toes. The task of opening her eyes proved to be even more of an excruciating task. Damn, Sandra thought. What the hell did I get into last night? Had she pushed herself to her partying maximum last night? She’d been hanging out like wet clothes with her party girl sister-in-law, Yvette, for the last few months but at present she couldn’t recollect anything from the previous night. All she knew was that she had a splitting headache and an eerie feeling that something was terribly wrong. Still lying down Sandra was able to lift her hands to her head where she began massaging her temples, hoping a little clarity would find her. That’s when she realized that she was naked. Naked? What the…? An eerie realization broke into her head before she could finish the thought. Sandra was not in her own bed. She was not even in her house. Fear engulfed her instantly. Through immense pain, she sprang from the bed and forced a slither of an opening of her eyes. Darkness. She managed to swing her legs off of the bed toward the floor, but within one step she lost her footing on something slippery beneath her feet and fell down.


“Owww!” she cried out, the medal frame of the bed scraping the small of her back. Moments later the pain in her back would unequivocally be the least of her worries. On the floor was the culprit of her fall. Over two dozen photos scattered all across the floor. Photos of her in very compromising positions with men other than her husband. Her and Todd. Her and Devon. Her and Richard. Her and some random guys she couldn’t even name. Who took these? Sandra desperately wanted to know! More pointedly, Who the hell had been following her and why? She was afraid to even think the question that was really plaguing question her but the answer would find her soon enough.

Headache or not, Sandra needed to get out of there quick, fast, and in a hurry! Her clothes were sprawled crazily around the room: blouse squished between the pillows on the couch, left shoe in the kitchenette, right shoe in the bathroom, pants underneath the bed. Pure insanity! Still Sandra managed to dress quickly. As fast as she could, Sandra gathered up all the photos and mashed them deep into her large designer shoulder bag, wishing she could push them into nonexistence. No such luck.

Cautiously, she peered up and down the dingy hallway of the motel. Motel! This wasn’t even her type of place. She and the company she kept had entirely too much class to be laying up in somebody’s motel. More than ever she wanted to know how she’d gotten there. She couldn’t have been that drunk last night if she’d driven herself to the motel. Did she drive herself there? That answer became clear when closed the door to her Benz and couldn’t reach the pedals. Her mind was reeling now with that piece of this puzzle solved. But who had driven her? Who had she trusted enough? Or who had taken such advantage of her? Turning the ignition, seeing that it was nearly seven A.M., Sandra knew that her priority needed to be getting home! She was a wife, a mother, a respectable family woman—at least she had been until recently. Regardless of the day of the week it was—she wasn’t sure—her children needed her.

Sandra adjusted her mirrors, put the car in reverse, then headed out of the parking lot of only God knows where she was. Her phone began vibrating beneath the clutter of her purse but it was synced to her car so she didn’t need to fumble for it to answer. “Unknown” was displayed across dashboard. Afraid, she pushed the “phone” button conveniently located on the steering wheel to answer the call.

“Hello.” Sandra said.

“Hope you slept well dear.” A heavily disguised voice said.

“Who the hell is this?” Sandra snapped, unconsciously gripping the steering wheel taking a sharp left on the corner in the direction of the expressway that would take her home.

The mystery man or woman chuckled. “If I were you”, they sneered, “I’d be more concerned about those lovely pictures of you and your friends and what could happen if they fall into the wrong hands.” More sinister laughing followed.

Ohmigod, Sandra thought. She inhaled deeply, at a momentary total loss of words. “What do you want?” she finally said, dreading the answer before the question was fully out of her mouth. She was the wife of a political candidate, a member of a wealthy and influential family. Whoever this was on the other end of the phone could demand just about anything from her and she’d have to do it in order to not bring total embarrassment and shame to herself and her family.

“That’s a good question, Mrs.- Lester - Anderson. I know you’re on your way home to play the role of dutiful wife and mother. Keep your phone close and I’ll be in touch.” Click.

Sandra could hardly see straight she was so dazed by the life threatening phone call. When she finally noticed where she was, the exit towards her home was two miles behind her. As she exited the freeway to go in the opposite direction, she fought back the tears blurring her eyes as she wondered how in God’s name she’d become the threat to the life, the marriage she couldn’t imagine being without.

When to Move On--A Literary Lesson

The numbers recorded on my word log for my upcoming novel over the last few weeks have been pretty dismal: 85, 288, 27, 280, 91, 41, 21--to give a few examples. And these don't even reflect the days when I didn't write anything!

As if that's not enough to be down in the dumps about, do I dare share with my literary friends that this minuscule effort has been on one friggin' scene!

I know. I know. Stop yelling at me! In my five plus years as an author I know better than to have spent this considerable amount of time on the same scene. I should have moved on days ago against the pull of the literary devil to stay lost in a scene that obviously wasn't working or isn't meant to be--at least not right now.

Make sure you don't fall into this form of writers block by, first, planning your scene thoroughly before you begin writing, and, second, don't be afraid to leave a scene unfinished. Perfect time to use the bookmark feature of Microsoft Word. When you're ready you don't even have to search for the page where the scene is housed--just search your bookmark and click. Its also convenient if you decide to delete the scene all together.

Finally, at the start of this week, I've moved on to something else and the writing has been going well, although that unfinished scene is not far from my mind. Lol.

How do you handle these types of moments in your writing? Do you fight with the scene like I was doing until you get it right? Or do you ditch it immediately?

Respond below.

Published Authors Benefit from Continuing Education Too

Any day now, I expect to be up to my neck (not literally, of course) in pages of my new manuscript. Why any day now and not right now? If you've been keeping up with my blog, you'll probably remember a post or two about my progress on my second novel. Well, I wasn't lying. I did actually start the manuscript several months ago, but like with my first manuscript, I hit a brick wall--unfortunately a lot sooner than I expected.

Isn't it funny how powerful a story idea can hit you--of course while you're in the middle of another project? Anyway, when the idea for my upcoming novel, Reconciliation to Hell, came to me I couldn't wait to be finished with Unfinished Business! I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this would surely be the novel that would put my name of the tongues of literary giants! So it's easy to imagine my utter disappointment when I finally got started on my breakout novel only to hit that all too familiar brick wall. Can you see the tears???

What did I do next? Just like when I was writing Unfinished Business, I put it down, feeling defeated but determined to get rejuvenated. That rejuvenation never came. However, I didn't remain defeated. Instead, I sought out a little literary help by way of Ed2Go. I enrolled in Writing Fiction Like a Pro, a class that promised to leave me with an complete outline of my book project that would enable me to write, and write more swiftly and concisely from beginning to end.

The result: So far so good. The class ended in May. I experienced a minor setback shortly before that when my totebag with A LOT of my writing material was stolen. But, I didn't stay down for long. Being the eternal optimist I decided that it wasn't the worst thing that could've happened since I was going to start my story over from the beginning anyway. Now, I don't have a choice.

Goal: Today is June 8th. I plan to begin writing no later than the weekend of June 24th, Until that time, I'm marinating on the checkpoints of my outline and sketching out subplots of secondary characters.

Author L.A. Jefferson's Discussion with 4 Kicks Book Club Meeting--May 2011

Earlier this month my novel, Unfinished Business, was the featured selection for the 4 KICKS book club. Consequently, I was invited to join the discussion. Since debuting my novel in 2009, this is the second time that I've received such an invitation so I was just as excited AND nervous as I was the very first time! Let me tell you, this was a VERY lively and fun group of women to discuss my novel with. To get the party--oops--meeting--started the ladies and I toasted with shots of Petrone! I did say lively, didn't I? LOL! Anyway, the meeting was ALOT of fun--reminded me of my own book club days! At the end of the day, the ladies and I had so much fun, they invited me to come back for other book discussions. I gladly accepted the invitation!

Below are some questions and comments that stemmed from the discussion.

Q.  What was your inspiration behind the story?
A. Honestly, it began with my personal to recapture the essence of my first love. The story evolved into what often happens when two people reconnect after years of separation only to realize that--after the ups & downs of life's experiences--they are no longer who they were when that love was born between them.

Q. What was the deal with Lena? Was she bi-sexual, lesbian, or just extra kinky?
A. Surprisingly, the word "lesbian" never came to mind when Lena's character was created. I simply envisioned her as a woman willing to go to great lengths to give her man whatever he wanted in the bedroom. Now, the real question is whether her motivation was to satisfy her man or control him?

Q.  On the night of the bridal shower, did Roy really sleep with Christian, the woman he met that night or did he just want Lydia to think that he did so she could realize what she was on the brink of losing?
A. I left that one open for the reader to decide...

"I'm glad that there was a couple in the book on the right track. It was refreshing to have that balance of Black love."

"As fine as Officer Chris Boyle was, I wanted to see him hook up with somebody in the story! He was too fine to end up by himself."

My question to the group: "What was your opinion of the end of the story? Was it a realistic or unrealistic end?"

"Personally, I couldn't see it happening like that, at least not so soon."

"I wouldn't say unrealistic, but it'd definitely make me want to know what happened later on down the line with the characters' relationship."

Be True to Yourself

Let me the first to say, there are some extraordinary literary movers and shakers on the scene! They're writing. They're blogging. They're hosting blogtalk radio shows. They seem to make every literary event! They're hosting their own literary events!They've got  fans and followers up the yin yang! And on top of all of that, they still manage to produce a book!!! It's enough to make you do a triple take! For the longest time I have set back, purely awestricken, trying to decipher how these folks were able to do all of this. And more importantly, why wasn't I doing the same thing? Obviously there was something wrong with me. There was no question about it. I had all of the same desires as these other writers and authors. But from the outside looking in, I wasn't putting forth nearly the effort to really make my literary dreams come true.

Did that or does that mean that I don't want it bad enough? Am I just playing writer/author?

Absolutely not!

And neither are you, if you've ever felt that way!

Here's the thing. We're all individuals, with unique talents,personalities, and lives. What one person is strong in, another is weak, and vice versa. We go wrong when we try to immulate others especially when you don't know the ins and outs of how folks are doing what they're doing. For example, that author who is at every literary event may not have any children with evening or weekend activities. Perhaps, their children are older, less needy. Maybe that person who wrote their book in six months spent a year structuring their story from start to finish, which makes the writing part easy. You see, people often don't share with you (until you ask in some cases) how they're accomplishing what they're managing to accomplish. Some people like you to look at them in blind fascination. I say, ASK! Remember, the only stupid question is the one not asked. But I'll be the first to tell you that you will run yourself stark raving mad trying to be what someone else is. Even worse, you NEVER will be anyway! As a writer, aspiring author, or novice author you have to carve out your own path, you own way, on your own terms. In the end, you'll be more the wiser and more successful!

NaNoWriMo--NOT EVEN CLOSE

"Embarrassing" is the first word that comes to mind when I think of my word count to-date on this last day of the National Novel Writing Month contest. I won't even bother trying to type the night away until the midnight deadline! It'll be a complete waste--well maybe not a complete waste. Afterall, some typing is better than no typing at all, right? Right! Considering that maybe I will write from the time I get home this evening until midnight...Do I have it in me? We'll see.

Rather than looking at myself as a complete failure for not reaching the 50,000 word count, I'll give myself a pat on the back for effort. As writers, especially writers holding down a day job to pay the bills and taking care of family (kids, spouse), it's important to acknowledge and celebrate even the small steps toward the ultimate goal. The truth of the matter is had I not participated in this contest I may not have even gotten as far as I did on this particular project--let's just say the ball is definitely rolling. Maybe next year for NaNoWriMo. Until then I'll be working on my goal of writing EVERYDAY!

L.A. Jefferson

An Impossible Goal...I think NOT!

It's almost been a complete week since I've done any writing on my upcoming novel, but its okay. My confidence is not shaken that I'll complete the first draft by the end of the summer--marked officially as the day after Labor Day (I'm taking every available day). The story is pretty mapped out in my head. It's just a matter of dedicating some MAJOR time to do the writing. Tomorrow will definitely be one of those days. Besides an early morning gym session and a mid-morning writers' group meeting and church on Sunday, I have cleared my schedule for the weekend so I hope to make some SERIOUS progress. I'll post an excerpt of my progress by Monday so be sure to come back.

Til Later, L.A.

What's Going On

Okay, so L.A. is no longer hosting the blogtalk radio show. Summer is over and school is back in session. So, what is L.A. doing now?

Here it is. L.A. is in the final stages of planning the official release party of Unfinished Business. The party is scheduled for Friday, October 16, tentatively at Hoots on the Ave on Michigan Ave in Detroit. It's going to be a combination birthday/book release party as L.A.'s birthday is October 15th, so it should be a good time.

A couple of writing projects are in the works: one short story under the premise of "Women Gone Wild". The expectation is for the book to be a compilation of 3 or more stories. I may even invite other authors to submit stories. Anyway, the first story is about Jasmine, a plus-sized woman who embarks on a weight loss plan to spark interest from her husband who she assumes has lost interest in her when she stumbles across his secret collection of porn videos. Ironically, as she begins to lose weight, her husband becomes angrier and more distant. One day at the gym, Jasmine is approached by one of the male members who tells her how sexy her thick body is. He invites her to his entertainment establishment, which she assumes is a night club, but when she and her friend visit, it's actually a strip club that specializes in the "thick" dancer. Jasmine is appalled that he invited her there and even more so when he suggests that she become one of his dancers! Stay tuned for what trouble Jasmine finds herself in by the time this story ends.

Project #2 is a fiction novel, loosely based on actual events. What happens when two people, who probably shouldn't have ever gotten married a first time, marry a second time for all of the wrong reasons? A Reconcilliation to Hell. This is the story of Paula. She secretly remarries her ex-husband, Chris, after years of his pressing her to reconcile. Paula foolishly believes, that although Chris was never the man of her dreams and she never believed they were compatible, and they had a decent history, shared three children together, and most importantly he'd always been in love with her, that this reconcilliation couldn't go wrong. She had long tired of the "single-mom" dating game and had had her last straw when the last man she dated physically attacked her while her children lay sleeping in their bedrooms. But, boy oh boy, does Chris have a shocker for her. Paula finds out soon after their second "I do" that Chris was nothing like he presented himself to her during their re-courtship. He had become a MAJOR player! You'll have to get the book to find out the hell Paula goes through dealing with the new Chris and becoming a new Paula!

Read the below excerpt of Reconcilliation to Hell.

“Pleeeaassee, don’t do this to me!” I cried out, desperately, falling to my knees, grasping at him in a fleeting attempt to keep the man I loved from walking out of the door. He’d just declared, heartlessly, “There is nothing left between us, Paula…” It wasn’t the first time he said it, but this time his eyes were blood red, his lips curled in a gruesome snarl, exposing brown and yellow stained fangs inside his mouth, like some kind of monster. He stared at her hard, like he was daring her to combat him any further.
Still, I cried a river of tears as he walked out the door, leaving me, the woman he claimed would always be the owner of his heart, on the floor. As soon as the door closed, my children came running from the shadows, tears spilling from their eyes.
“Mommy, he’s gone,” three-year old Nigel cried, climbing on top of me, wrapping his arms around my neck.
“Why don’t we just leave like he wants us to?” Alissa chimed in, bravely fighting back her tears. I sat there broken, bruised, and trying to accept the inevitable defeat that had been hovering over me for the past three years when the strong smell of gasoline entered my nostrils. Hurriedly, I ran to the window, peaking out, only to see Chris proudly standing outside of the house with a lit match just before he dropped it at the beginning of the trail of gasoline leading to the house.
I was stunned immobile. My children were pulling at me, trying to get me to make a move—for my life, for their lives. Just because Chris didn’t want us, didn’t mean I had to give up on everything else. While I was aware of this truth, I couldn’t bring myself to leave. It wasn’t supposed to end this way.
The flames engulfed the house quickly, my children and I still inside. It didn’t appear to be any way out. I held my spot on the floor—the children finally gave up their losing battle of getting me to come to my senses. Instinctively, they huddled closer to me, for protection. As it got hotter and hotter, the flames coming closer and closer to us, all I thought about was how my marriage to this man for the second time had come to such a terrifying, seemingly deadly end…
It was always at this point that I awoke from this nightmare that had been haunting me for the past three months. Ever since I called myself making the decision to leave Chris, my husband of only three years. Same as always, I had to flip my pillow on the other side as the side I was sleeping on was so wet from the tears I’d been crying during my sleep as my subconscious mind honed in on the broken woman in the dream.
That woman can’t be me, I thought, unbelievingly, to myself, hugging the pillow close to my naked caramel brown body. But it was. This nightmare wasn’t something that my subconscious was dreaming up. Instead it was a pitiful reminder of what my joke of a marriage had turned me into—a groveling wife, desperate to keep her family together for the sake of her children and secretly trying to keep from looking like a damn fool for remarrying the same man she’d divorced over five years before.
I entered this second marriage a strong, confident, secure woman. There was no doubt that Chris loved me and he would never hurt me. Ironically, the only thing I did doubt was whether or not I’d be happy with him.
So how in the hell had things turned so upside down? How was it that I was the one begging him to stay with me?
That’s where Ms. Sheridan comes into the picture. She’s the therapist, by referral through my company’s Employee Assistance Program, I’ve been seeing for the last six weeks. Today marks my third session with her.

Who are the characters of Unfinished Business...

If you're a woman, you're probably quite familiar with the main character. Either you've walked in her shoes or know someone who has. Lydia Love is a smart, confident, career focused young woman. She has a strong family bond, terrific girlfriends, and is on the road to promotion at work. And she's got more than one man after her heart. For the most part, Lydia makes good decisions, unless Thomas Cunningham, the man she got herself sprung out on during college is involved. Then she just gets kinda stuck on stupid.

Or maybe you can identify more with Lydia's bestfriend, Sandra. Like Lydia she made some right moves too, at least attending college. But she was more interested in landing a man who would provide her with the finer things of life. Now that she's got that, she's wondering if the finer things in life compensate for the lack of fidelity on the part of her husband.

Thomas Cunningham is a man many women have encountered at one time or another in their lives, unfortunately. He's a "Mr. Lover Man". He's fine, he's sexy, he's the epitome of masculinity and sensuality and he knows how to make a woman feel that "thang". No wonder poor Lydia can't resist him :) Like most men, Thomas wants his cake and wants to eat it some, then more and more. And guess what? He'll keep doing it until he finally get's BUSTED!

Roy Collins is one of the good guys in the story, which of course, means he finishes last. Right? Maybe, maybe not. He may be kind, dependable, committment-phobia free, but he's not a complete sucker. Yes, he loves Lydia. Has loved her since they met as teenagers. But he also knows his worth as a man. Knows the right woman would be lucky to have him. And he has no plans of waiting for Lydia to take her sweet time deciding what man is best for her. Or does he?

Get ready for more. The book is on the way...

Your Author,

LA Jefferson