Variety Excerpt: "Dark Days of Promise" by Shaunna Gonzales

I am SO excited about today's Variety Excerpt from Shaunna. I got to help Shaunna as a beta-reader for "Dark Days of Promise" way back, so it's so exciting for me to see the fruits of Shaunna's labors be successful. "Dark Days of Promise" will be released on September 21, 2012 by Desert Breeze Publishing, but because Shaunna's such a good writing friend of mine, we get a sneak peak to whet your appetite!

Exerpt available on this website is unedited.

"Was he telling me the truth about Carter calling? I wasn't sure. The reality of whether or not I'd survive the night and claim I'd made the right choice to accept a ride from such a dangerous man was, as of yet, to be determined. A fierce battle raged within me. Although grateful for the ride, and the warmth of his Jeep, a cold shudder of terror slithered up my spine every time he glanced my direction. The locked door added to my apprehension. Cold overwhelmed me again.

He exercised a considerable amount of care in adjusting the army blanket higher across my chest with one hand. His warm hand brushed against my skin. I flinched, wanting to scream, but managed to keep it in check, in all honesty because I couldn't ... The phantom pressure of his hands lingered at my throat.

It seemed incomprehensible. I'd once thought him in need of my comfort, only to have him turn on me, becoming a killer. Never, if I lived forever, would I forget the coldness in his eyes at the moment I knew I'd die. The memory of his eyes, the cold purposeful reflection of them, caused me to shudder. I couldn't bring myself to look at him. Would his seeming gentleness be absent, replaced instead by the killer I knew existed behind the veil of concern for my well-being? Though good-looking, he'd proved beyond dangerous -- he'd proven deadly. He'd held my life in his hands. The option of my continued breathing his choice and his alone. I wasn't at all sure by what fate I continued to breathe and feared it had been a calculated move on his part to heighten my terror. He'd measured me well if such were his intentions.

It required a firm determination on my part to remain calm. In the subconscious recesses of my mind, I considered myself his prisoner. Distrust replaced my calm acceptance of his explanation of finding me with emphatic surety. I tried in vain to calm my instincts to run should the opportunity present itself."

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The inspiration for this scene came about -- way back when (okay, forty years ago). My mother and I were traveling alone, across the desert in South Eastern Idaho when we came over a hill and hit black ice. Of course you don't see that part of this scene here. To make a terribly cold walk (and story) short, I, as a child, must have logged these fears in the recesses of my one day overly active writer's mind. I think most writers will agree, one pulls the inspiration from where one must, the most wonderful of experiences or like in this case, the coldest fears of childhood.

Visit Desert Breeze Publishing to check out more of their titles and purchase "Dark Days of Promise" when it's released in September!

You can read more from Shauna on her blog and follow her on facebook!