Sometimes while you're writing your book, a scene that seemed right when you put it to paper just doesn't fit in overall. It's kind of like when scenes are taken out of movies. Well, we all love those deleted scenes on the DVDs (I just dated myself, I know) and we can get them in our favorite books, too. You can also read an actual excerpt found in Maggie Clare's book Lost and Found. And then be sure to enter the giveaway as you follow the tour!
After an incredible weekend with the sweet, sexy doctor, Cam realizes what he’s been missing. But he’s run from intimacy his whole life, sure he doesn’t deserve a woman like Lissa. He’s doing her a favor by walking away – or so he tells himself.
Frustrated and hurt by Cam’s distance, Lissa must nonetheless rely on his private security firm when an annoying admirer becomes a threat. The more time Cam spends with Lissa, the faster his defenses crumble. When the disturbed stalker finally makes his move, Cam will do whatever it takes to save the woman who’s slowly healing his wounded soul.
Lost and Found is the third book in the Tactical Solutions International series but can be read as a stand-alone.
Read an excerpt:
Cam Taylor was sleeping half-naked in her bed. No version of Lissa’s reality ever held that possibility. She may have entertained a few fantasies, sure, but here he was in the flesh. She had to remind herself it was only because he had a head injury.
As if on autopilot, Liss walked to the bed and perched lightly on the edge. With a gentle hand, she reached out to smooth the hair off Cam’s forehead, brushing it away from his newly repaired skin. His eyes fluttered open and a slow, contended grin spread across his face.
His look took her breath away. Heat warmed her belly. She inhaled his clean male scent, catching herself before she groaned out loud.
But then he blinked, his grin faded, and his brow furrowed, like he was remembering.
Liss dropped her hand to her side. “How are you feeling?”
“Not too bad, considering.” He reached up and gingerly touched the side of his head.
“Think you can sleep a little more?”
“Yeah,” he answered, yawning.
Liss pulled the sheets and blanket up over him, and spontaneously kissed his forehead, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Then, too afraid to look at him, she practically ran out of the room.
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When I’m working on a first draft, I know that some of what I put down on paper won’t make it to the final version. Often, I’ll cut between five and ten thousand words from my manuscript! That may seem like a lot, but Terry Pratchett once said, “The first draft is you telling yourself the story.” His words stuck with me. As the author, I need to know more details about a character or a world I’ve created than I’ll ever share with readers. Having those small yet important facts at my fingertips gives the story more consistency and authenticity.
Because I plan the major conflicts and plot points of my stories ahead of time, and because I get to my characters inside and out, I don’t tend to go down too many rabbit holes when writing. The novel I end up with is generally recognizable from the draft I started with, so the cuts are usually just me tightening up scenes. Oddly, that wasn’t the case with Lost and Found.
While Lost and Found is the third book in the Tactical Solutions International series, I actually wrote parts of it first. I’d just finished working on an installment in my science fiction series and I wanted to take a break from that story for a little while.
As often happens, new ideas begin to take shape while I’m in the middle of another project. I very clearly envisioned the scene in Lost and Found where Lissa is trying to escape from the stalker. She sprays him with a bottle of bathroom cleaner and runs through the house, only to find all the doors padlocked. There wasn’t much of a story to go with this scene yet, but it was pulse-pounding and terrifying enough that I really wanted to keep it!
After just a few weeks of working on my new idea, I had to return to writing my science fiction series, and Lost and Found sat in my files for about a year. When I eventually began developing the TSI series, I dusted off that partial manuscript, gave Cam a new and better backstory, and turned it into book 3.
This dusting off required changing more of the plot than I’m used to though, and deleting entire scenes which no longer made sense. I also switched from writing in the first person to the third.
The following scene is one I deleted before the story got too far off track. Cam is on protection duty because of Lissa’s stalker, but in this version the couple have actually lost a baby, a tragedy that precipitates their break-up. It was a haunting, emotional scene, but one that just didn’t fit with the newly revised story arc.
I’m getting my things together. Cam walks out of the bathroom and sees me about to leave.
“Where are you going?” He’s definitely pissed.
It’s Sunday. I panic. I have to go.
He must realize something is off by the look on my face, so he says in a gentler voice, “Liss you know you can’t go anywhere without me.”
I can’t take him with me, can I? But then I think, he has as much a right to be there as I do.
“Give me five minutes and I’ll take you anywhere you need to go,” he says and there won’t be a debate. If I want to go, he will be with me. I nod.
True to his word, five minutes later we’re in his car and he asks, “Ok where to?”
I swallow and look down at my fingers twisting involuntarily in my lap. “The cemetery,” I whisper.
He grips the steering wheel hard but doesn’t answer.
“I always go on Sundays,” I explain, my voice higher and tighter than usual. “Sometimes I have to go really early if I’m working, or late at night, but I don’t miss.” I’m rambling now and I sound a little unhinged, even to my own ears. “I like to make sure the space looks nice, you know?”
He grabs my hand in my lap and squeezes, silencing me.
It’s not far so we are there in a few minutes. I walk through the beautifully manicured lawn to the tiny stone monument. Cam follows wordlessly.
Maggie Clare is the pen name of award-winning speculative fiction author Tabitha Lord.
When channeling Maggie, she writes all the naughty things! Her Tactical Solutions International romantic suspense series features hot hunky heroes, smart sexy gals, and nail-biting narratives.
Count on Maggie to pair great story-telling with an erotic edge.
Twitter: @msmaggie_clare
Instagram: msmaggiec
Facebook: @msmaggieclare
Website: www.msmaggieclare.com
Maggie Clare will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
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