Scene Spotlight for Dearest Darling by Andrea Downing

I have a special treat for all of you...I’m bringing a new feature to Write with Fey for authors to showcase a special scene in their books. Andrea Downing, an author from The Wild Rose Press, is the first to be honored with this feature. She’s sharing a scene from her recent release, Dearest Darling.

Andrea Downing: Let me first say thanks so much, Chrys, for having me here today. This is the first time I’ve done a ‘scene spotlight’ and I really enjoyed it.

Title: Dearest Darling

Author: Andrea Downing

Genre:  Western Historical Romance

Page Count: 106

Publisher:  The Wild Rose Press

Release Date:  October 8^th 2014

BOOK LINKS:

Amazon / The Wild Rose Press

SCENE:

Daniel drove back in with the feed sleigh in the late afternoon. The snow had stopped, leaving a silver-white aura over the landscape. The moon fought the sun for this hour, a crescent hanging in the sky like a misplaced toy. There Emily stood, her pelisse bundled tight around her. She leaned on the corral fence, staring out, the mountains standing silently caped in their ermine cloaks, the high prairie encased in its diamond shell, a fading sun scattering jewels onto the landscape. As he reined in, she cast a smile his way, one he could not help but return.

“It’s so beautiful. This landscape. It’s remarkable, quite honestly. It’s as if there’s nothing but space for us for miles and miles and miles. Only the mountains and rivers and the prairie, no one else, just us. Amazing.”

He halted the dray horse, set the brake, and jumped down to stand beside her at the corral, trying to see what she saw, see it through her eyes. He sucked in the fresh air, his hands on the fencing he had built himself. “Like you, I didn’t know what I was coming to. Ten years back. But I had read lots. It was different then, quieter. Even less folks than what there are now. I thought...I thought I’d never seen anything so beautiful. Still don’t.” Although, with her before him, he wondered.

“It’s so different from the city.”
Her voice had a note of quiet peace, like the evening call of birds. That was what her voice was like. A call. To him.

Picture by Andrea Downing

“Yeah. It sure is.” He patted the waiting horse, puffs of cold breath forming clouds from its nostrils as it snorted out its impatience.

“I’ll put dinner on,” she informed him, and with a last glance at the hills beyond, she headed back into the cabin.

Daniel stood watching her, the reins in his hand, the horse stomping eagerly to be led to warmth, to its feed.

Bet it’ll be good. Bet it’ll be delicious.

And when he made his way back from the barn, the hay sleigh unhitched, the horse curried and fed, he caught sight of her in the lamplight, sitting there with the mending once more, the table set and waiting for him.

He wanted nothing more than this, the firelight casting her shadow against the cabin wall, the golden locks of hair highlighted by the wavering colors of the fire in the grate, the woman at her work, silently waiting for his return. His alone.

He removed his hat as he entered and set it on its peg before unfastening his sheepskin coat. He wondered if he smelled, if she was offended by his body odor and his unshaven face and uncut hair, but it was too late to care about such matters. Ethel, still in New York, still breathing the stench of city streets, enclosed streets with no views, still waiting in the wings, haunted him now.

Picture by Andrea Downing

QUESTIONS:

1. Where does this scene take place?

Daniel’s ranch house was inspired by the Cunningham Cabin in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.  I always envisage Emily coming out of that cabin, and standing by the rail and taking in that breathtaking scenery around her.  I’ve tried to capture what it would be like in these photos but nothing does it justice; you have to go there and experience that sort of beauty, that solitude.

Picture by Andrea Downing

2. If this were a movie, what song would be playing in the background?

I’m a big Country fan so this was a difficult decision, but I think I’ve settled on ‘Never Knew Lonely’ by Vince Gill.

3. Which actors/actresses would play the characters present in this scene?

For Daniel, no one could be better than Chris Hemsworth—I promise you!  Not just because he’s been voted sexiest man of 2014, but he definitely fits how I envisage Daniel.  Maybe I shouldn’t say that because the character is named for my daughter’s boyfriend!  For Emily, I’d settle on Natalie Portman; she has the beauty and the range necessary for this character.

4. What inspired this scene?

As I said above, the ranch was based on this historic site in Grand Teton National Park.  When I was there I knew that the solitude, the way one feels about being so distant from everyone else, had to play a part in the book, especially referencing Daniel’s loneliness and his need for company, for a wife.  Emily’s first bit of dialog captures everything I felt there and the scene evolved from that.

Picture by Andrea Downing

5. What do you love the most about this scene?    

First of all, I’m very proud of my line, “The moon fought the sun for this hour, a crescent hanging in the sky like a misplaced toy.”  It’s one of those lines an author writes and then later wonders where it came from!  Did I write that?!  But the other thing I love about this scene is the vision of Daniel peeking in his window and seeing Emily in the lamplight.  How many of us do that, either walking along a street or driving by houses; we peep into windows and feel the warmth of the home there, the love of a family.  And that’s exactly what Daniel is longing for, only at this point in the story he believes Emily is the wrong woman for him.

BLURB:

Stuck in a life of servitude to her penny-pinching brother, Emily Darling longs for a more exciting existence. When a packet with travel tickets, meant for one Ethel Darton, accidentally lands on her doormat, Emily sees a chance for escape. Having turned down the dreary suitors that have come her way, is it possible a new existence also offers a different kind of man?

Daniel Saunders has carved out a life for himself in Wyoming—a life missing one thing: a wife. Having scrimped and saved to bring his mail-order bride from New York, he is outraged to find in her stead a runaway fraud. Even worse, the impostor is the sister of his old enemy.

But people are not always as they seem, and sometimes the heart knows more than the head.

BIO:  

Andrea Downing likes to say that when she decided to do a Masters Degree, she made the mistake of turning left out of New York, where she was born,  instead of right to the west, and ended up in the UK. She eventually married there, raising a beautiful daughter and staying for longer than she cares to admit.Teaching, editing a poetry magazine, writing travel articles, and a short stint in Nigeria filled those years until in 2008 she returned to NYC. She now divides her time between the city and the shore, and often trades the canyons of New York for the wide open spaces of Wyoming.Family vacations are often out west and, to date, she and her daughter have been to some 20 ranches throughout the west. Loveland, her first book, was a finalist for Best American Historical at the 2013 RONE Awards. Lawless Love, a short story, part of The Wild Rose Press ‘Lawmen and Outlaws’ series, was a finalist for Best Historical Novella at the RONE Awards and placed in the 2014 International Digital Awards Historical Short contest. Dearest Darling, a novella, is part of The Wild Rose Press Love Letters series, and came out Oct. 8^th, 2014, and Dances of the Heart, another full length novel, comes out in February, 2015.

AUTHOR LINKS:

Website and Blog / Facebook / Twitter

Goodreads / Linkedin / Amazon Page

Thanks again for having me, Chrys!  Loved doing this.

You’re very welcome, Andrea. I’m super glad you had fun with it. I’ll welcome you back for another Scene Spotlight in the future. :)

QUESTION: How did you like Andrea’s scene for my first Scene Spotlight?