A Few Lines from… Kathy Fischer-Brown's Winter Fire

Winter Fire

"Get back!" he shouted. "The ice won't hold you!"

She whirled around in alarm.

And in that split second, he saw her eyes. Those startled doe's eyes. Zara Grey!

In the next instant, a crack—like a musket shot—echoed through the ravine. She reeled as the ice heaved up beneath her amid an angry surge of black water. And then, her face frozen in a look of surprise, her mouth open in a semblance of a silent scream, she disappeared through the widening breach.

His gaze fixed on the roiling chasm, Ethan hurled himself down the slope. She surfaced—flailing arms and legs, and gasping desperately for air—churning up the black water into an icy froth. She grasped at the splinters of ice.

"Keep your head up!"

Racing along the bank, he ripped off his deerskin jacket and hurled it, along with his rifle and belt into the snow. If she went under again, she'd be trapped. Already the current had taken her, sweeping her like a bobbing cork toward the opposite bank where the ice was thicker.

"Keep your head up!"

But the frenzied movement of her arms had slowed. She gasped at the water along with the air. She could barely keep herself afloat. As if she had made a conscious choice to surrender herself to a stronger power, he saw the spirit drain out of her. An eerie calm settled over her eyes as her gaze met his, then she slipped under again without a struggle.

Without stopping to think, Ethan tore off his shirt and moccasins, and dove through the opening.

Buy from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Fire-ebook/dp/B004BA5GMM

Visit Kathy’s website: http://www.kfischer-brown.com

Stop back next week for A Few Lines from… Angel de' Amor

What happened to English grammar?

I mean seriously – did people forget what they learned in school? Or are they not teaching it anymore?

I’m specifically referring to the use of I and me. I read it in books, see it on television, face book and hear it constantly.

Do people really not know the proper use of pairing the two words with an and between them. Joe and I – Joe and me. 

I seldom hear me anymore. It’s always and I. 

I was taught if you weren't sure which to use, I or me, to simply leave off the first part – Joe and.

Pretty simple really. Joe and I went to the store – Leave off Joe and – I went to the store. Correct. 

Come to the store with Joe and I – leave off Joe and – Come to the store with I??? Seriously, would anyone speak that way?  Of course not, you’d say Come to the store with me. So obviously me is correct. 

But that’s not what people are saying, or writing.

I watched a program the other night on the Hallmark Channel. They consistently used and I. Didn't matter that it was incorrect.

Is this what’s being taught in our schools today? 

Is this the new language? 

I know many publishers are doing away with commas. In fact, The Chicago Manual of Style has changed using a comma after and in a series. I’ll have bacon, eggs, and toast. Why?  Apparently The Chicago Manual of Style has replaced The Elements of Style (Strunk and White) and that's what publishers use today.

 I know sometimes commas are overused, especially in run on sentences. But there is a need for them. Commas indicate pause. I've read sentences  more than once so they’d make sense, because of a lack of commas.

 What is this world coming to?

Are people too lazy to speak  and write properly? Aren't there enough editors knowledgeable about grammar to correct these errors?

Or do people think it sounds better to use and I?

A Few Lines from Bride of the Baja by Jane Toombs

Bride of the Baja by Jane Toombs
After a long ride Alitha was untied, pulled down from the horse and carried to a hut, where she was pushed inside and left alone in the darkness. She lay huddled on the ground for a moment listening to the sounds around her—the pounding of the surf, the drunken shouts of the men, the neighing of horses, the barking of dogs.

Coming Soon! Find this title and Jane's other books at: http://bookswelove.net/janetoombs.php

Please stop back next week for a few lines from Kathy Fischer-Brown.

Love on the Rocks

 “I hate to do this, but I see no alternative.” Jordan took a deep breath and pushed him over, rolling him like a barrel while trying to avoid cutting him on the sharp rocks. It wasn't

 easy, but at least she managed to move him.

“Come on!” She tried to encourage some life from his limp body.  Far enough away from the waves, she leaned down to give him mouth to mouth, hoping to bring him around. His long straight nose, eyes set wide with bushy eyebrows, and the grin on his lips, even in his unconscious state, sent a ripple of excitement through her.

 Not a handsome man, but something about him stirred deep inside. Resisting the urge to run her fingers through his curly black hair, she leaned down to his mouth. When her lips touched his and opened them slightly, something familiar tugged on her heart. She hadn't touched a man's mouth in, what, three years. This wasn't exactly the way she imagined touching them again. Not that she ever imagined it. Never even thought about it. She’d had enough of men to last her a lifetime.

“Good grief, Jordan, you’re supposed to save him, not make out with him. What’s the matter with you?” The sound of her voice startled her. She hadn't meant to speak out loud. Fortunately, he didn’t hear her. She blew in his mouth again.

His chest heaved. He coughed, spluttered, spit water, and opened his eyes.

His gray blue eyes sparked something in her, bringing out emotions she hadn’t felt since long before Derek. Her stomach lurched. She moved away, avoided his touch. He tried to sit up. Looked around.

A Few Lines From Shattered Dreams by Janet Lane Walters

Without a glance at the waiting patient, she strode to the counter. The aroma strengthened. Hadn’t been her imagination. She turned her head and stared at the man wearing the green cotton examining gown. She gripped the edge of the counter. Blood rushed from her head.

“You’re dead.” The words slashed the silence. This couldn’t be happening.
“Hardly.”

The voice sounded like the one from her dreams. She opened her mouth to ask where he’d been and what he’d been doing for the past twelve years. She sucked in a shallow breath. Asking that question would only stir the emotions she had frozen.

“Don’t bail on me. Sit down.”

Her fingers had no feeling. Waves of darkness dimmed her vision. The edge of the counter disappeared. Her knees buckled. Blackness engulfed her.

* * *

“Manon!” Rafe Marshall leaped from the examining table in time to catch her before she hit the floor. He cradled her against his chest. “Didn’t mean to scare you,” he whispered. Why did she think he was dead? He knew news of his accident had been kept quiet because the police believed he’d been deliberately forced off the road. Who had told her? Had the informant been the driver of the dark car his rescuer had seen speeding from the scene?

Find Shattered Dreams at Amazon

Janet can be found daily at http://wwweclecticwriter.blogspot.com/

Stay tuned. Next week Just a Few Lines features Jane Toombs

   CELESTE HARTE GLARED at the twenty-nine candles on her birthday cake. She’d squandered her last fourteen birthday wishes asking for a fairy tale romance, and her life still read like an instruction manual. The frog she’d hoped would turn into a prince—God rest his soul—had been a cheating toad. Leaning her hands on her glass-topped kitchen table, she puffed out her cheeks and blew. I wish I’d meet a man who would turn my life into a sizzling romance novel.

            “Easy.” Marianne Joest raised an auburn brow as she swiped cream frosting from her blouse with a manicured nail. Closing her eyes, she sucked her fingertip. “Mm. Next best thing to an orgasm.”

            “My life is half over, I haven’t made love in I-can’t-remember-when, and you talk about orgasm?”

             “Half over?” Marianne snorted. “And I thought Susan was the drama queen.” She cut two slices of cake and handed Celeste one. 

    Celeste shook her head. “It’s loaded with fat.”

            “Dammit, Cee. This is carrot cake, a vegetable with frosting. You’re thin enough no matter what Harry said, and twenty-nine isn’t the beginning of menopause.”

http://bettyjowrites.com

http://bookswelove.net/bettyjoschuler.php

Sneak Peek Sunday - Geriatric Rebel

“Who are you? Where do you think you’re taking me?” She glared at him with the lightest, bluest eyes he’d ever seen. Eyes that right now, he swore pierced into his.

 “You’re a burglar, aren’t you?” She tapped her foot and crossed her arms over her chest. “If you think for one minute, I’m going out that door with you, think again, buddy.”

Mike stifled a laugh, finding her amusing, obviously she didn’t trust him. Not that he blamed her, he did lie to her, and she didn’t know him from Adam. What did he expect?

“What were you doing in that room, buster, and if you don’t tell me who you are, I’m going to scream for help.”

“Okay, okay, quiet down.”  Hell, she meant business. “I was following you.” He tried to sound serious, but he couldn’t. He found the whole situation humorous. “My name is Mike Powell, room 110, but I don’t belong in this home.” He held out his hand toward her.

“Yeah, none of us belong here,” she scoffed. “Why were you following me?”

Available from: Amazon