Summer 2025 Writing Update and Sixth Novel First Chapter Teaser

The first draft of novel number six is…

Guess what? About a week ago, I finished the first draft of my sixth novel, tentatively titled Four Hearts. It’s been a long process since I took some time off for personal reasons during the summer of 2024. The draft is with my four amazing beta readers as I type this.

What now?

I’m taking a well-deserved break from novel writing and editing (personally). I write and edit every weekday for my day job. I need the break to get away from my story so I can edit it with fresher eyes. I’ll take notes from my betas and begin the editing process in mid-July. I plan to write some pop culture and lifestyle blogs over the summer.

Afterward, I’ll run the novel through Grammarly Professional. I use it for work and love it, so I also have a license for my publishing company, Luminesce Publishing. Next, I will print the novel and proofread. I’ll make any corrections and format the novel for printing and Kindle. Then, I’ll design the cover.

I plan to pubish the novel in December 2025. I’m so excited!

As promised, here’s the teaser of “Four Hearts” Chapter One

Chapter 1
Monday, December 6, 1999

Staring at the black and white diagram of a hagfish on her wall, Ashton Spriggs sighed and tapped her fingers on her desk one at a time. It was ten minutes past eleven, and her last appointment of the morning was late. She’d give Austin Wright another five minutes before searching for her student, who was more of a danger to himself than he could understand at seventeen years old.

            She opened Austin’s file. His sophomore and junior year grades were decent, but the second nine-week session of his senior year wasn’t looking promising. She flipped past Austin’s transcripts to see if he’d taken any of the college exams earlier in the semester, but his test section was blank, much like the expression on his face when he finally walked into the office and plopped down in the chair.

            Ashton smiled at the boy, taking in his chin-length, dirty blond hair and bloodshot eyes. There was a reddish-purple bruise near his left cheekbone, and Ashton’s heart sank. She’d seen injuries like his before, and wouldn’t wish them on anyone, especially a child. The flannel shirt Austin wore over a Kurt Cobain t-shirt was at least two sizes too big, torn, and fraying at both elbows. Ashton had the same t-shirt at home; it was one of her favorites.

            “Glad you decided to keep our appointment, Austin.”

            “Well, I’m here,” he said. “What’s this about?”

            “Close the door, and we’ll chat.”

            Austin tipped the chair back and pushed the door closed. His wallet chain fell from his baggy jeans and clanked against the metal chair leg. He eased the front legs back down onto the carpet squares and crossed his arms. “Look, I know my grades are shit, Miss Spriggs. I’ve had a lot going on.”

            “Language, Austin.” She wanted to reach out and hug the boy, tell him she’d help, but she had to stay professional.

            “Sorry.” He blew a lock of hair out of his face and pulled one of several black rubber bands off his wrist to put the top half of his hair into a ponytail. The bottom half of Austin’s head was growing out from having been shaved earlier in the year. He wasn’t the only boy in the school with the haircut, and Ashton thought it looked almost as ridiculous as her prom date’s mullet back in 1993—a full year before the Beastie Boys made fun of the hairstyle in their song. She had to admit the song was catchy.

            “Miss Spriggs?”

            She rejoined Austin in the present and tilted her head while studying his black eye. “What happened to your face?”

            “I was born with it.” He recrossed his arms and stared at the fish diagram on the wall. “What the hell is a hagfish?”

            “It’s a long story,” Ashton said. “Back to your eye. Did you get in a fight?”

            Austin looked at the floor before turning back to Ashton. “Last night, me and my friend were watching the Summer Slam pay-per-view he taped over the summer, and we got carried away. He was Mankind, and I was Stone Cold Steve Austin, so I had to go down like my man.”

            “I find that hard to believe.”

“I’m guessing you don’t follow WWF; it gets pretty intense.”

            “No,” Ashton said. “I’m not a fan of pro wrestling because I think it’s bullshit, like the story you just gave me.”

            Austin gasped in mock horror and grabbed his chest. “Language, Miss Spriggs.”

            Ashton bit her bottom lip. Not even three years in her role as a guidance counselor at her alma mater, Harrington High, and these kids might make her lose her mind.

            “Austin, are you okay? Is there something I can do to help?”

            “I’m fine,” he huffed. “Just tell me why you wanted to meet with me.”

“Okay, but I’m here if you need anything.” Austin nodded, and Ashton took a cleansing breath before continuing. “You have to bring your grades up if you’re going to graduate on time. I can get you officially enrolled in tutoring for next semester after school, but in the meantime, I want to pair you with a peer tutor to help you get ready for semester tests.”

            “I don’t need a tutor, and I have to work most days after school. I leave after fifth period.”

            “Your current grades say otherwise. Based on what I’ve seen from your past performance, I know you’re smart and capable of doing better. You’re barely passing right now, except for two classes. Are you working too much? Can you cut back on your hours until after tests are over?”

            “No, I can’t.”

            “Well, then we’ll figure out something else.” She looked at his schedule again and decided to pull him away from the free period he spent in the woodshop. “Instead of going to Mr. Hinson’s classroom after lunch tomorrow, come here instead, and we’ll have tutoring until after the semester tests. If you get a C or above in all your classes, we can stop next semester. But if you fail any of the tests, then you’re back here next semester. Okay?”

            Austin shrugged and started tapping his fingers on his knees. “Can I go now?”

            “Yes, and please try to be on time tomorrow. Bring your books and any assignments you have.”

“Fine.” Austin got up from the chair, his wallet chain catching as he stood. He reached back for it, knocking the chair into the wall with his combat boots as he untangled himself. Ashton winced and watched the awkwardness unfold before her. The kid must have grown a foot since she’d had him in career development his sophomore year, and he still seemed to have trouble controlling his long limbs. Austin tilted his chin at Ashton and then walked out, leaving the door open.

Ashton felt sorry for him. Many of her students, like Austin, had to work long hours after school to help support their households. It was the reality of living in a poor urban area surrounded by even poorer rural ones—children having to deal with adult things like paying utility bills when they should be focused on their futures.

One kid she knew had a bright future ahead of her was her student worker, Noelle Porter. Despite having lost her mom at a young age, Noelle was the responsible mother figure of her friend group and excelled in all her classes. She spent her mornings at the community college in dual credit classes and would start college in the fall with enough hours to be a sophomore. Ashton wished more students would take advantage of the free college courses.

As if she’d summoned her, Noelle appeared in Ashton’s doorway. She wore a black felt bucket hat over her long blond hair and a shiny silver puffer jacket zipped up to her neck. Her jeans dragged the ground and frayed at the ends, barely revealing her black Airwalk sneakers.

“Good morning, Noelle. I didn’t expect to see you until later this afternoon.”

Noelle took off her backpack and coat and hung them on the hooks near the door. When she took off the hat and stuffed it into the backpack, her hair clung to her face and popped with static. “Algebra was cancelled so we’d have more time to study for the final, so I thought I’d hang out here if you weren’t in a meeting. Otherwise, I would have gone to the library.” She adjusted the chair Austin had just vacated and plopped down in it.

“Actually, I’m glad you stopped by,” Ashton said. “I want to talk to you about something.”

Noelle’s smile faded as she leaned forward. “Is everything okay, Miss Spriggs? Was my final ACT score a mistake? Is it not high enough for the scholarship? Just tell me, please.”

“Your composite score is correct, and you qualify for tuition, dorm fees, a meal plan, and a stipend for your books. I’ve already sent over your final scores with the scholarship acceptance and letters of recommendation from your journalism teacher and me.”

“Thank goodness,” Noelle said, her crooked grin returning. “You had me worried.”

“I’m sorry,” Ashton said. “There’s nothing to worry about. I just need your help with another peer tutoring assignment.”

“Oh. My schedule is packed after school, and then I babysit several evenings. I could try to fit someone else in if no one else can help.”

“This would be a personal favor to me and done during the first hour of your work period after lunch starting tomorrow until finals. For now, at least. It’s possible I could need you to continue next semester if things work out.”

“In that case, it’s no problem since I’m here anyway. I’m happy to help.”

Ashton knew Noelle would be eager to please her and was thankful she had the option of getting someone compassionate to help Austin. “Perfect. Austin will be here tomorrow, and I’ll send you two to the library to prepare him for semester tests.”

The color drained from Noelle’s cheeks. “Austin,” she said. “Austin Wright?”

“Yes. You know him, right? I thought I’d seen him at your lunch table before.”

“Mm-hmm,” she said, nodding her head. “No problem. I can help Austin, if he’ll let me.”

“Great,” Ashton said, standing up. She grabbed a handful of papers off the top of the file cabinet behind her desk and handed them to Noelle, along with a hall pass. “As long as you’re here, will you make 60 copies of these for me, collated and stapled, please?”

Noelle took the papers with an unsteady hand and walked out the door, muttering, “Sure.”

Hating that she’d upset Noelle, Ashton returned to her chair and reached for her coffee mug, clanking her ring against it. She wasn’t used to the quarter-carat diamond on her left hand—a new development since Thanksgiving break. Ronnie had chosen the perfect one since Ashton didn’t wear much jewelry. She twirled the dainty, white gold ring as she sipped her cold coffee. She’d stopped adding cream over a year ago since she never got to finish coffee while it was hot and worried the cream might spoil. Now, she almost liked the drink cold with three or four—mainly four—sugars. Ashton took a bitter sip and winced. Almost.

Ashton twirled a dark curl around her finger and made a mental note to check in with Noelle next week to make sure the girl hadn’t taken on too much. The last thing she wanted to do was derail the girl’s success. She wanted all her students to succeed, including ones like Noelle, who had internal drive, and especially those she felt drawn to, like Austin, whose eyes held pain she wished she could ease.

Between college planning or trade school prep for most of the seniors, running the afterschool tutoring program, and career aptitude assessments for the sophomores, Ashton often wondered if she’d taken on too much herself.

More to come

Once Four Hearts is published, I’ll likely start working on novel number seven! I look forward to sharing more about it.

Thank you for reading
-Brandi Easterling Collins

Featured image: Designed by brgfx at Freepik