“The fool keeps hanging on. Look at him. He thinks the world is a playhouse, and everything he touches turns to gold,” Grai laughed slightly, but a sadness came across his face. “Miracles that no one can see, that need to be hidden. It’s real, but it isn’t.”
I am currently 3/4 of the way through my first draft of Hoarfrost to Roses. This paranormal romance with a mystery subplot is actually taking shape quite nicely. Whereas I thought it would be much more of a thriller, and in one sense it is, it certainly is developing some humor.
We have a young man, Grai Madison, nearly murdered to the point of where his spirit has been separated from him and though he’s not dead, he is quite divided over matters.
And we have a young woman, Adele, whose parents were hanged for murder and her aunt and uncle must take her in to their luxurious manor and somehow overcome the stigma of having a child of felons live with them.
The manor is located next to a prime piece of property the entire populace of this 1879 township covets for a railroad terminal that may or may not come. A piece of property that just so happens Grai’s grandfather willed to him, and which Grai’s purpose is to restore to its original beauty. Grai has taken residence in the bunker his grandfather built, and needless to say one stormy winter’s day Adele just happens to witness Grai’s spirit creating magic in the garden.
I’ve been editing as I go (I know, not supposed to do that) but I’m concerned about the pacing and the word count. The story lends itself well to literary fiction rather than commercial and so I want to make sure it can slide in that genre’s word count.
Fashioned after a little bit of 1879 Port Townsend history.
Making Believe 