Items removed from an article after changing the slant

 This time around, I am posting NOTES that I cut from my article research and not my actual writing. While my own notes in parentheses are included, the rest of the writing above those notes is not mine. It is from an article on the Greenwich Library website. The article: “Literary One Hit Wonders (Because the Author Only Wrote One Book!)” 

 

It is just one of the sources that I used for my article “One-Hit Wonders: Authors with Only One Novel Published in Their Lifetime” which was published in the February 2026 issue of First Chapter Plus Magazine. You can find my other sources used at the bottom of the article.

 

Note that the “REASON FOR CUTTING” part under both passages is all my own writing.

 

FROM THE GREENWICH LIBRARY WEBSITE PAGE CITED ABOVE:

 

John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces (1980). Published posthumously over a decade after Toole's suicide, largely due to the persistence of his mother, the book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981. He wrote another novel, The Neon Bible, but neither was published in his lifetime. (NOTE: He wrote two novel-length manuscripts before his death and both were posthumously published.)

 

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Shaffer, Mary Ann

Mary Ann Shaffer took on many literary roles in her short life, bookstore employee, librarian, and finally writer. However, this would be th only novel Shaffer completed before an illness took her life. This historical novel uses correspondence between Juliet Ashton and a Guernsey man to create an interesting plot. Perfect selection for book clubs

(NOTE: The novel was co-written with her niece, Annie Barrows. Barrows took over the editing and rewriting of the book following Mary Ann’s death, per the author’s wishes expressed before she passed away.)

 

REASON FOR CUTTING:

I changed the article’s slant to focus on one novel published during an author’s lifetime. Since these two books were published posthumously, I could not include them in my article.

Deleted scene from Shadow of Samhain

This is a deleted scene from my novel, Shadow of Samhain. In this scene, my character, Malissa, is making coffees and her best friend, Sade, pops in for a visit. This scene was used as a way for Malissa to share her good news and to show what kind of friendship the two girls share.

Here is the scene:

“Hey, you!”
Malissa turned from the counter and smiled. She walked over to Sade and hugged her. “Hey yourself. I didn’t hear you come in.”
Sade grinned as she plopped onto one of the barstools lining the other side of the counter. “Your brother let me in,” She pouted. “But he ran away.”
Malissa returned the pout. “I sorry.”
Sade laughed. “I’ll get him one of these days!” She sighed, rubbing her hands up and down her legs. “So. What are you making?”
Malissa grinned as she turned around and walked back over to the blender she’d been throwing things into. “It’s a surprise,” she coyly answered. She grinned as she placed the lid on the blender and turned it on.
“A surprise?” Sade asked from behind her.
Malissa finished blending the ingredients before she heard Sade talk again. “Hey, I’m all for surprises!”
She chuckled as she removed the lid from the blender. “Good! Then that means I don’t have to celebrate all by my lonesome.”
She poured the drink into two transparent coffee cups then set the blender pitcher back down. She picked them up and carried them to the counter. She handed one to Sade. “Try it.”
Sade studied her but took a long swig of the drink just as she did. Malissa inwardly smiled as she noticed her friend’s surprised reaction.
“Hey, that’s pretty good!” Sade said, placing the cup down. “What is it?”
“Mocha caramel frappe. Or something close to it. I think I got it right after trying to make it a hundred times today.”
Sade blinked. “Wow, you must’ve been pretty bored today!”
Malissa grinned, trying to contain her excitement as she shook her head. “Nope! Not bored at all. Actually, I was kinda busy.”
“And that’s why we’re celebrating?” Sade asked.
Malissa leaned toward her. “I got a job.”
Sade jumped up. “All right!” They cheered and fell into an embrace. Malissa laughed as she moved away. “I now officially work at The Mighty Bean!”
“That’s awesome!” Sade nudged her. “Hey, maybe you can get me a discount sometime.”
Malissa laughed. “Sure, sure.”
Sade picked up her drink again and assumed a serious air as she held it up, ready for a toast. “To a new beginning.”
Malissa grinned, clinking her cup with her friend’s. “To a new beginning.”
As she drank from her cup, Sade thoughtfully added, “And maybe a hot date every once in a while.”
Malissa almost spit out her drink as she laughed. “One thing at a time, Sade,” she reminded after she recomposed herself. “The first thing I have to do is call my parents and give them the news.”
“And while you’re at it, clean that junk out of your room.”
Malissa thought about this. She knew exactly what kind of stuff in her room was the “junk” Sade was referring to. And, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that her friend was right. Just as it was time to put away childish things once someone grew up, it was time for her to put away her dream things now that she had her footing in the world. Now that she could actually survive on her own. She would have to survive without the dream obsession.
“Yes,” she said, considering this change. “Yes, you are probably right.”


REASON FOR CUTTING:

At first, I was thinking of using this scene at a later part of the book. But as I worked more on this new draft, I realized that this particular scene didn't work anymore, for two reasons:

1. I had to show that Sade, my character's best friend who was moving in with her, was actually trying to HELP Malissa instead of once again saying something like "They're just dreams! Get over it!" It would take something else for Sade to actually help Malissa with her dream problem, so I completely changed gears.

2. Malissa actually shares the news about her job with her family. In the final scene where this happens, a new plot twist takes place and so I decided to "kill two birds with one stone" and use Malissa's announcement and a change in the story, as well as revealing something about a character, all in that one scene.


Check out Shadow of Samhain here (with excerpt) and here (Amazon link).