#amwriting #FridayFiction Part 1 #TheVanishedBoy @harmony_kent #newbook #crimethriller

Hi everyone. I can’t tell you how much pleasure it is to pen my first ‘am writing’ post in such a long time. While I still have my sci-fi trilogy to finish from last year, I also have this standalone novel that I also abandoned last year. As for most of us, 2020 proved a difficult time, and added to that, my health nosedived too. I’m still up and down with my breathing and immune system, but I’m determined. Even if I only get a few-hundred words a day, it’s a lot better than a big fat zero. This week, in just three days, I’ve penned over 8,500 words on my latest book, The Vanished Boy. Below, you’ll see the blurb and an excerpt. I’d love to know your thoughts, bearing in mind this is straight from the WIP and is the first, unrevised draft. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone 🙂

About the Book:

It’s so remote out here. Anything could happen …

 

 A missed phone call in the night is all it takes.

When Carole’s 18-year-old son goes missing, she breaks into Jayden’s laptop to try to understand his life.

All too soon, Carole discovers just how little she knew her boy.

And when one lead after another dead-ends, the distraught mother has to face the unthinkable.

Sucked into a sticky web of deceit and lies, nothing is as it seems.

 

When your life turns inside out and upside down, who would you trust?

 

Excerpt:

Carole’s little boy gazed up at her with tear-filled eyes. ‘Is Daddy going to die?’

Desperate to show a brave face to her son, she forced a smile and squeezed his hand. ‘Daddy’s gone to sleep now. He won’t wake up. The doctors gave him something so he won’t hurt any more.’

Jayden blinked. ‘So … h-he’s dead now?’ He stared in horror at the shrunken body in the bed.

Carole closed her eyes and prayed for strength. ‘No, sweetie. He’s in a coma. But the doctors think he’ll die real soon. Maybe within the hour.’

The boy nodded. When he spoke again, his voice had dragged itself from the vulnerable depths of a small child and back up to the relative heights of the eleven-year-old that he was. It made her proud—he, too, had pulled on the reins of his fear and pain. At the same time, it hurt her that he had to.

Eleven was no age to lose a father.

Hell, thirty was no age to lose a husband.

 

© Harmony kent 2021


 

29 Comments on “#amwriting #FridayFiction Part 1 #TheVanishedBoy @harmony_kent #newbook #crimethriller

  1. Congrats on making progress with your writing, Harmony. I’m so sorry you’re struggling with health woes and I hope all the crinks get worked out. Your blurb for the book sounds fantastic, and the excerpt was intriguing!

    • Thanks so much, Mae. I’m determined that no matter what, I will write for at least half an hour a day. That way, the word count will add up, even if slowly, instead of it just sitting there. So delighted you like the blurb and excerpt 🙂

  2. I’m all in, Harmony, and can’t wait to see where this goes. Congrats on your upcoming release:) Sending healing hugs. xo

  3. Oh wow, Harmony! This promises to be a heart-stopping read! I’m so proud of you for going back to finish it and will anxiously await the release. Gripping excerpt!

  4. Congratulations on your determination to get back to your writing. You and I are in a similar place with that desire, I think, even though I know you have endured rougher times this year. But I have faith in both of us, and in our desire to tell our stories! You are off to an excellent start with this one. I’m totally pulled in!! And a bit teary-eyed, too.

    Great job, and here’s to some prodigious word counts over the next few weeks, for each of us. (You’re way ahead, but I aim to give you a run for your money, yet. 😀 ) Keep up the good work, my friend! 🙂 <3

    • I take up your challenge gladly, Marcia, if it keeps us both writing! Good luck with your progress too. I’m so glad the story moves you. Thanks, my friend 🙂💕

  5. Great blurb. And congratulations on writing again! I’m sorry to hear about your health woes, but if you’re starting to write, I hope that means you’re feeling better and you continue to improve.

    • Everything crossed! I’m determined. So glad you like the blurb. Thanks, Staci 🙂

  6. Hi Harmony,
    Your blurb is excellent. It added tension to the excerpt you’ve posted.
    I especially like the wording in the last part of the descriptive excerpt.

    Shalom aleichem

  7. Wow, you’ve captured my attention and my imagination is running wild. I look forward to reading your WIP when it’s finished. I suspect The Vanished Boy will be a winner! And thank goodness, you are regaining your health. The world needs you, my friend. 💗

    • Aww, thank you for those kind words, Gwen. You make my heart smile. So delighted you like the excerpt and blurb.💕🤗🙂

    • Writing sure is a blast. It helps lift my spirits like nothing else quite can (um, dear hubby, if you read this, then of course you lift my spirits wonderfully! It’s er, a writer thing😂. Thanks, Jacquie 🙂

  8. Good excerpt. Poor Carole.

    The first line, however, confused me a bit because I pictured a “little boy” as 6 years old or younger. I think simply writing, “Carole’s son gazed up…” works because his age is still open, and then he calls his dad “Daddy” like a pre-pubescent might (so we’re narrowing in on the age). And then you pinpoint his age four paragraphs later, which totally works, especially the way you describe his scared-voice.

    And the blurb is great. It grabbed me right away.

    • Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated. I might swap out ‘little’ and put in ‘darling’. The emotion seems to demand more than ‘boy’ on it’s own. What do you think? So glad you enjoyed the excerpt and blurb. Thanks, Priscilla 🙂

  9. Excellent, Harmony. You are right. A few hundred is more than zero. Who knows, that few hundred maybe the best you’ve ever written. Best wishes.