Continued from Writing Styles – Part 3
Writers all have different ways of conveying meaning to their readers. In this post I’ve asked authors to provide short excerpts with examples of how they’ve developed description of a character and a setting. A third challenge was to provide a sentence or two showing their favourite ending to a scene.
Today’s first guest is Emma Calin.

KNOCKOUT! A Passionate Police Romance by Emma Calin
1. Character:
He smiled again, showing even white teeth behind the full wide lips that pouted forward as he spoke in such a way that just possibly he really was French.
Sitting opposite him, she could take in the full presence of this stranger. It was as if he transmitted a force – an aura of danger and a sardonic humorous innocence. She attempted to re-assert her normal senses – her ability to appraise a man, threat or situation in the blink of an eye – a skill she had honed on the streets of South London – in a world of gangs, drugs and murder. And yet – here she was, tripping over the bags that some stupid girl had left in the entrance to her brain.
2. Setting:
She drove down to the beach and looked out at the azure, turquoise and aquamarine cocktail of the Pacific Ocean. Waves split into pure white fragments against an offshore rock. The beautiful loneliness of the scene mirrored her feelings of desolation. The rollers finished their journey pounding their force against the uncaring sand. She laid her head back and let a wave of fantasy break over her as he kissed her lips and moved inside her. For a few seconds he was there again in her heart but too soon the image washed away leaving only the call of gulls and the trickle of her desperate tears.
3. Scene Ending:
The great River Seine rippled and pushed on to the sea as the sun tiptoed the back stairs of the world climbing towards dawn across Paris, maybe the morning light would never uncover two lovers hiding within the protection of each other’s arms….

LINKS:
Amazon Worldwide Link: Knockout! A Passionate Police Romance
Amazon Author Page: Emma Calin Amazon Author Page
Emma Calin Blog: http://www.emmacalin.blogspot.com
Emma Calin Website: http://www.emmacalin.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/emma.calin
and pages: http://www.facebook.com/Knockout.Romance.Novel & http://www.facebook.com/TheChosenbyEmmaCalin http://www.facebook.com/Escape2Love
Twitter: @Emma Calin
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/emmacalin/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4915751.Emma_Calin
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And now, let’s welcome Nicky Wells.

Author – Nicky Wells
1. CHARACTERS—This little excerpt neatly contains the essence of all main characters in Sophie’s Turn; Dan, the rock star; Sophie, the eponymous heroine; her fiancé, Tim; and her best friend, Rachel:
“Shh!” I admonished. “Will you keep your voice down? What are you talking about?”
“Dan is completely besotted with you, and he said he couldn’t bear the thought of you getting engaged to Tim so he had to…hic…come and check him out…hic!” Oh God, she had the hiccups. She would have to spend the night in the guest room. Once Rachel got the hiccups, she was beyond salvation. I gave her twenty minutes before she collapsed. I had to extract critical information fast.
“Why did you introduce him to Tim?” I continued my interrogation. “Couldn’t you have sent him away?”
“Oh no, Sophie. I couldn’t turn this lovely, heartbroken man away.” She looked at me with big, innocent, and totally unfocused eyes. “In fact, we were just looking for you. You seemed to have… hic… hic… hic…disapp-hic-eared.”
“What did you say to Tim about who Dan was?” I needed to know.
“That he was Dan, of course. Your boy-hic-friend from Tuscq!” She dropped this bombshell completely nonchalantly.
“You what?” I squeaked. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“No, I’m s-hic-erious! Ti-hic-im thought it was very funny. Hic.”
2. SETTING
This excerpt from the opening pages of Sophie’s Run sets the scene for Sophie’s amazing exile:
While I waited for the ferry to finish docking, I drank in every detail of my chosen exile. The calm sea with little white-crested waves lapping gently against the quay. The green and white of the sandy dunes standing stark and fresh against the wide-open, deep-blue sky. The tiny harbor with only a handful of buildings and a few fishing boats bobbing on the incoming tide. Seagulls wheeling overhead, their mournful cries carrying on the gentle breeze, augmenting my sense of emptiness, newness. Fresh, clean, salty air. I took another deep breath, feeling calmer already.
3. SCENE ENDING
Adrenaline sloshed through my body in a rush of great excitement. This was it.
Music. Did I want music?
I flapped about a bit, shuffling through the few CDs I had brought and eventually deciding on my new Eighties compilation CD. No sooner had the first song started than there was a tentative knock. I did a final check; everything was ready.
I went to open the door.


Nicky Wells is your ultimate rock chick author. Signed to US Publisher, Sapphire Star Publishing, Nicky writes Romance That Rocks Your World, featuring the rock star and the girl next door.
Nicky’s books offer glitzy, glamorous contemporary romance with a rock theme ~ imagine Bridget Jones ROCKS Notting Hill!
Born in Germany, Nicky moved to the United Kingdom in 1993 and currently lives in Lincoln. In a previous professional life, Nicky worked as a researcher and project manager for an international Human Resources research firm based in London and Washington, D.C. Like her leading lady, Sophie, Nicky loves listening to rock music, dancing, and eating lobsters. When she’s not writing, she’s a wife, mother, and occasional teaching assistant. Rock on!
Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Loveahappyending.com Lifestyle | Romantic Novelists’ Association | Sapphire Star Publishing | Amazon | Goodreads
SOPHIE’S RUN SALES LINKS: AMAZON.CO.UK | AMAZON.COM | BARNES & NOBLE
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