Everyone loves a nugget of what could have been, so I’m sharing a few small and unedited nugs from Soul Discovery. Made more difficult by the fact it’s a new release and I risk revealing too much.

#1.

Unfortunately the scene didn’t pertain to the forward motion of the story, so it was cut. I still envision the old man down in the park when I get to this part of the story.

Laundry tumbling, I lacked direction again. 5:30am was an okay good time to walk Bosco before he peed on the couch he was sniffing at and all she intended to do was hit up his favorite watering tree and scoot back to the apartment, but found the nagging urge to meander down the railway ties to where the dreams took place irresistible.

Maybe that was an unconscious plan all along. Regardless, he wouldn’t be down there, the dreams always took place in a rainstorm at night.. Now, the sky was alive beneath the rising sun painting variations of colour, the temperature change causing creek mist to hang like fog across the grass.

As I approached the right spot I she stopped and closed my eyes feeling my temples thrum with my heart. The morning air was crisp. The nights are still cool, enough I wished I’d worn a sweater. A shiver raced down my back causing a shudder and goose bumps to cover every inch of my body, only his face on the inside of my eyelids.

“Hey lady, gotta smoke?” called a gravel-thrashed voice.

I jumped and screeched like a little girl as the voice perforated my recall of the grey-eyed man. A homeless man in his fifties stood unshaven in clothing in desperate need of a good burning, the stink of cheap beer and urine wafted downwind.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to sneak up on ya.” His raised hands trembled.

“S’okay. Sorry, um…I don’t smoke.” Heading towards the stairs, cursing the dense idea to go down there at this time,  I scurried off as fast as I could.

“You don’t have to leave, sweetie!”

Ignoring him and sprinting up the staircase, I was embarrassed by how winded I was. I bolted so quick Bosco panted to keep up, no doubt confused at why we left without playing off the leash. He didn’t care about extra people no matter how bad they smelled.

Drained by foolishness, I retrieved my clothes from the dryer before they disappeared.

#2.

This one is confusing if you HAVE read the book because this depicts a time when Sophie worked at a women’s shelter as a counselor and Kim was a co-worker. In real life I work at a women’s shelter as a Women’s Advocate and was advised it would be a good idea to change Sophie’s profession to avoid any accidental correlations made with clients and/or coworkers. While this meant A LOT of changes including Sophie becoming a bartender while in school studying psychology, Kim being a neighbour and having a change in profession as well, and any and all scenes that occurred within the setting of the shelter. PAIN IN THE ASS but worth it.

Run ragged by the twenty or so clients and their children in the large old converted house, Kim had everything calmed down promising me a quiet night. Looking forward to seeing Kim relieve me at 7:30am, I gave Kim a tight hug, she looking like she wanted to stay and chat. Normally hugging was too personal for me, but over the month I got used to Kim’s touchy-feely personality and embraced her with ease.

Luckily, the night went by without crisis. Distributing medication, passing along sound advice, and everyone was in their rooms by midnight. Easy-peesy. Cleaning was the worst. Since nightshifts were a common Relief shift, I felt like the company’s personal Molly Maid. Unfortunately, when you’ve only been out of college for seven months, and hired before graduation, you suck it up and appreciate the experience.

After toilets, floors, and windows sparkled, all necessary paperwork complete, all client files updated, garbage cans dragged to the curb, and breakfast served, nightly tasks were behind me. The hour or so before Kim returned for the day shift was excruciating. As usual wasting the minutes reading made time zoom by, and when 7:30am came, I was so encased in the story I regretted putting it down.

#3.

We all seek answers to crazy dreams; ask a friend, your significant other, your mom, or in my case the internet. This is but a small scene of Sophie’s search for answers, removed since it was unfruitful anyway and didn’t lead the reader anywhere important.

An easy solution brought her a search engine result of over 100,000 hits claiming to interpret the unconscious. A promising website looked as hokey as one would assume a dream dictionary site could look. “Shadows” and “stranger” encompassed the premise surrounding this mysterious figure in the darkness. The result read, “The ‘shadow’ represented a part of the dreamer not yet recognized, a part that is hidden or repressed. The ‘stranger’ could be a helper trying to give the dreamer direction or advice.”

Until the next book comes out that’ll be all the peeks you get (maybe :-P). If you haven’t read it already here’s the link to find Sophie and see what really happened in the polished final version AVAILABLE NOW.

Sophie Saterlee has made it her mission to get her life together. Leaving behind an abusive relationship, she’s bartending her way through a psychology degree. Ultimate goal? A new, stronger sense of identity.

When a terrifying recurring nightmare begins to poison Sophie’s waking hours and threaten all her progress, once again she’s close to losing everything.
An invitation to a tea leaf reading party sounds like exactly the kind of distraction Sophie needs. But an innocent girls’ night out turns into a journey through a complex and treacherous world of magic.
To survive it, Sophie must forge uncomfortable alliances with arrogant Donovan and mysterious Caine. One of them is tied to her past, and the other fills her present. Both men might hold the key to her uncertain future.
There’s more going on in her little corner of the world than Sophie realizes, and the truth will change everything.