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the secret wedding
The secret Wedding
by Liz Fielding
a harlequin novel
Chapter One: Part One
***
Begin your story at a moment of crisis, a point in time when your character’s life is about to change forever.
— Mollie Blake’s Writing Workshop Notes
***
Tom Garrick couldn’t believe he was doing this. He wrote bestselling thrillers for men. His readers didn’t want emotional guff polluting the action. Women were included for the sole purpose of providing sex and sympathy while they fixed up his hero’s wounds. And to bump up the body count. He almost smiled. Almost.
"The books are still selling really well — " his publisher had told him " — but you seem to have lost that wonderful humanity the women readers loved. Get back in touch with your feminine side, Tom." The man hadn’t been making a suggestion. He’d meant it. "Women buy a lot of books."
Tom didn’t have a feminine side. Not anymore. As for spending his weekend being lectured on how to raise the "sigh" factor in his books... He said something rude, his mood deteriorating as he maneuvered his sports car toward the gothic pile that was the venue for a weekend workshop with bestselling romance novelist Mollie Blake.
He repeated his curse, stocking up against his entry into a sugar pink, expletive-free zone.
Mollie Blake was not happy as she shifted gears, grinding the motor slightly. She didn’t do signings, or talk shows, and she sure as heck didn’t do workshops. But when your sweetheart of a publisher had promised a friend, had gone down on his knees, had been desperate enough to offer the loan of his precious car because it had a phone and she’d never be out of touch...
Late, she put her foot down on the accelerator.
Tom cruised the packed car park. The venue, at least, was a bonus. The hotel had once been used as the set for low-budget horror movies and the weekend might be considerably enlivened by devising grisly literary ends for other members of the workshop. He grinned. He’d think up something really special for Ms. Mollie Blake.
Mollie’s car phone rang and her heart gave a little lift as she pressed the hands-off button to answer it. "Hi, sweetheart ... " Then, "Can you hold on a minute, darling? I need to park."
Spotting a space, Tom shifted into reverse. Maybe he could get a book out of this workshop and his grin deepened as he considered a title. A Shroud in Pink Lace?
"What the — " He was jolted out of pleasurable thoughts of mayhem and murder by an ominous thunk and the sound of breaking glass. The positive thoughts evaporated; he’d gotten it right the first time. This was going to be the weekend from hell.
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24-01-07, 03:51 PM
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