Time for another Hump Day hook.  I’m excited for this week, because I get to use it to announce my latest contract!  Once again I’ve signed on with Secret Cravings Publishing, and I couldn’t be more excited!

Masked Hearts is my latest WIP.  I finished it a couple of months ago and have been working on edits for it diligently while plotting my upcoming WIP (Into a Mirror Darkly, of which you saw the 1st paragraph HERE).

Masked Hearts didn’t come easy to me.  It was my own personal challenge to write something under 50k (I’m super-wordy and writing short isn’t my forte), and I went into it blind with only some horrors of the past to trigger the story. Eventually everything fell into place and after some hefty editing of the first 10 chapters (before I knew Minnie & Roy very well), I felt it was ready.  I just got my contract signed, and can look forward to publication in April!!

So without further  mucking this up with words, here is my selection for this week:

Minnie turned again, her long black hair shimmering in the colorful glow of sunrise. The sense of perfection shifted the moment she lifted her hair.

Roy couldn’t stop his sharp intake of breath. A patchwork of scars stretched across her back in varying shades of white and pink.  From her neck to just above her backside they were a glaring difference to the bronze perfection of the rest of her.

At the same time the scars added so much beauty. Only a strong woman could survive the torture of a fire hot enough to sear itself into her flesh.

Hump Day Hook asks authors to post one paragraph of one of their stories, whether a WIP, one contracted, or already published.  Please visit and comment on the participants – you might just stumble on the next great read for your library!  To see more participants, click on the HHH banner below: