The Devil’s Pawn
Elizabeth Finn
When
Ashton is left orphaned after her parents are murdered, her life becomes a hell
she could never have imagined. Left to fend for herself, and responsible for a
debt she doesn’t owe, she is swept into a life as a gentleman’s escort at a
private men’s gaming hall. Her new manager makes it abundantly clear he doesn’t
appreciate her inexperience, innocence, and shyness. On the contrary, he
despises everything about her.
Derek can be “difficult,” she’s been told.
And however dark and handsome he may be, he terrifies her in a way that chills
her to the bone, but leaves her begging to understand him. As they are pulled
along together, more secrets and threats than either one could ever conceive
are revealed, and a common enemy emerges. This enemy will stop at nothing to
bring Derek to his knees while using Ashton as the greatest pawn in his
torturous game.
Will Derek be able to let down his shield
of cold, harsh emotion before it’s too late? Will he be able to sacrifice
himself to save Ashton, or will they both be destroyed by the secrets of their
pasts?
Advice to a New Author from a New Author…
by Elizabeth Finn
So take it for what’s it worth! Just kidding.
Even relative newbies, such as I, have something to contribute to this subject.
First and foremost, if you are entertaining the idea of writing in any
capacity, stop the entertainment, get off your tush, and Just Do It – thank you
Nike… I wanted to write for years and
years and years before I finally sat down and saw it through. What I assumed
would be a daunting, insurmountable challenge, turned out to be nothing more
than my fear of failure.
I can’t truthfully say what finally set me on the
road to finally sitting down and knocking out a manuscript. But what I can say,
I’m addicted. Writing has turned in to one of the most therapeutic, rewarding,
and challenging endeavors I’ve ever undertaken. And the publishing aspect at
the end of this journey has been far easier to navigate than I ever imagined it
could be. This is thanks in large part to a great publishing company that has a
great reputation and isn’t shy on supporting its authors and providing
resources that have proven to be incredibly beneficial to a new author – be
that advice, knowledge, or just understanding of the industry.
Here are what I consider the two best pieces of
advice I can give any new author. Take it for what it’s worth… Actually, just
take it. It’s good advice – even if I’m a relative newbie!
Just give it a try – writing an entire book can
seem daunting when you haven’t done it before, and I’ll admit, it shocked the
heck out of me when I looked back and my manuscript was 90,000 words long. Now,
I have four manuscripts under my belt: one published (The Devil’s Pawn), one
releasing on 10/22/2012 (Brother’s Keeper), one releasing on 12/17/2012
(Restoring Jordan), and one that I’m tweaking and will be submitting soon.
Find a good publisher – do your research! I’m not
required to stick with one publisher, but I haven’t yet been given a reason to
go to another. Check out Predators and Editors and other resources out there.
There are some great, reputable publishers out there, but there are also some
less than desirable publishers, so be careful, do your research, and be smart.
But if you take away nothing else, just hear this
– if you love to write, do it. Do it for yourself and see the accomplishment
regardless of the challenges. Writing anything at all is more than the average
person does. Your talent is special, and you are embarking on a unique
journey.
Excerpt:
Once in the fitting room, Derek takes the
chair again while I start to remove my clothes. I intentionally wore ugly,
stretched-out, white cotton underwear that is entirely too big on me in the
event he should be here. My mouth isn’t the only thing that can get me into
trouble—my sarcasm knows no bounds when I’m unhappy.
As he sees the appalling excuse for an
undergarment, his eyes move up to mine, narrowing darkly at my obvious
defiance. I look coolly back at him before looking away dismissively. My anger
and resentment of him from the humiliation he subjected me to the previous
morning, not to mention his treatment of me over the past two weeks, have
charged me into a bold, fiery bitch that no longer cares what retribution I
might face. While my tongue usually gets me in trouble, today I decided to let
my underwear do the talking.
Jacob enters with an armful of dresses for
me to try on, and he cringes as he takes in my defiant granny panties, hated
the world over by men, including, apparently, gay men.
He turns to Derek, and with a scrunched-up
face, he worries out loud. “The dresses aren’t going to lay right over those…”
He tosses a nod in my general direction.
Derek wastes no time at all reassuring
Jacob and striking back at me. “No worries. Ashton was just taking them off.
She won’t be wearing underwear anymore.”
I glare defiantly back at him as I drop the
loose fabric to the floor. He returns the glare for a moment before letting his
gaze travel down my body to my sex, and as it lands there, smoldering with
heat, I turn abruptly from him, intentionally showing him my backside instead.
I look to the mirror in front of me, and I catch his eyes flit away from me in
annoyance. He worries his lip with his thumb and index finger as he
contemplates, and the slightest of smirks crosses over his mouth. Jacob is
standing by looking from one to the other of us, obviously wondering just
exactly what he’s gotten himself in the middle of.
Derek finally looks back to Jacob. “Get on
with it.”
I try on one after the other of the
dresses. Some are perfect; Jacob pins in additional alterations in others.
Derek sits by bored, only glancing up from his cell phone occasionally. One
such occasion is when Jacob remarks that I’m “just not curvy enough for this
one.”
Derek looks up to Jacob, but he shifts his
eyes to mine before commenting, “Yes, well, if you can figure out some way of
making her look female, you let me know.”
Jacob again lets his eyes pass between us,
seeming to wonder all the while what he’s missing. As I hold Derek’s eyes with
my own, my anger falters, and the pain that is behind my fury pushes through. I
try to wrangle my tears into submission, but it’s no use. In defeat, first one,
and then another spills from my eyes and slides down my cheeks. Jacob regards
my state and excuses himself from the room.
I stand on the hemming block in the center
of the room, refusing to look at Derek. But he’s looking at me, and as my hurt
continues to work through my entire body, I let my tongue do what it does best.
“Why do you hate me so much?”
He says nothing, but stands and moves to
me. Reaching around behind me, he pulls the zipper of the dress down, and then,
returning his hands to my shoulders, he pulls the straps down, exposing first
my small breasts, and then the rest of my naked body as it falls to the floor.
He leans in to my ear and speaks. “You
don’t know anything about me.” He then takes me by the hand and pulls me to
stand in front of the mirror, and leaning to my ear once more as I watch him in
the mirror, he speaks gently. “Lean forward and put your palms on the mirror.”
Awesome post and excerpt! Thank you for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Melissa!
DeleteElizabeth Finn