It’s hard to believe it’s the end of April. It’s the season of concerts and recitals, which means May and June are going to be incredibly busy. I’m already done with my concerts, but both the kids have upcoming gigs. I’m looking forward to it; both of them are so proud of all the hard work they put in—as they should be!
Last night, I was on Twitter for a weekly chat I participate in with a bunch of other lovely writers. I realized that although I’ve shared the WIPpet linky with them, I’ve never told you all about the Twitter chat! If you want to join in, it’s Tuesdays at 9pm eastern, using the hashtag #writestuff.
Now for this week’s WIPpet. This scene is immediately—as in, the very next sentence—after last week’s. It’s not terribly important or interesting, other than the fact that I promised you all would know what fairy tale inspired the story. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, you can refresh your memory with the other WIPpets from this story. As you may recall, it’s the story of a youngest brother who inherits something worse than nothing when his dad dies. And now along comes…this guy, who, judging by last week’s responses, may or may not be hot, depending on who you ask. (Don’t ask Micah; he’s not ready to answer yet.)
My WIP math was just adding all the numbers together, so here are 14 sentences.
Micah made only a half-hearted attempt to return the smile. He reminded himself he didn’t want to get to know the neighbors—he was just there to fix up the property and sell it. People would only complicate that process.
“Uh, hi,” Micah said. He tried to think of something to tell the young man to get him to go away.
“I’m Cat Rowland. I live next door.” He extended his hand.
Reluctantly, Micah accepted it. “Micah Forbes.” He frowned in confusion. Before he could stop himself, he said, “Your name is really Cat?”
Cat laughed. “Sort of. My baby sister couldn’t say my name, so she called me Cat—no idea why. My mother always joked that I had nine lives, so it stuck.”
There you have it. First one to figure it out gets…um…the satisfaction of posting the answer first?
Actually, aside from the fairy-tale inspiration, I also pulled a little from one of my favorite children’s authors (despite this not being at all a kids’ story)—Dianna Wynn Jones. I recently read Charmed Life to my kids, and the main character’s nickname is Cat. I promise, my character is not a grown-up version of Eric Chant, but I’ve always liked that he was called that, so I borrowed the name. My Cat’s role in this story starts out as a rough parallel to his fairytale counterpart.
As usual, thanks and heart-shaped chocolates to K. L. Schwengel for hosting us. Post some of your own work-in-progress, related to the date however you can make that happen, and link up with us here. Don’t forget to read the other entries. Happy writing!
smexy is gonna happen! lol I love that Micah is dead set on one thing, when we pretty much all know that one thing is not gonna happen. =P
Exactly! He’s also going to meet a host of oddballs determined to know his true self, but he’s going to stay busy for a bit trying to keep everyone out. Wait til you meet Cat’s sister; she’s fun.
Please tell me her name is kitty!
Nope. Worse. Let’s just say her parents were 1980s Republicans.
Andy & the kids named her, actually.
Great excerpt Amy, but I’m not sure if Cat is a catch or not! I like the way you convey Micah’s reluctance to speak to him, but how Micah gradually thaws out a little and gets curious.
Yes, Cat’s hard to read at first. We’re seeing him through Micah’s eyes, and I think he’s not entirely sure what to make of him. Come to think of it, I’m not sure what to make of him, either! 😀
The best character combinations seem to start with one super reluctant character and one super casual friendly one, don’t they? 😀
Well, actually good combinations come in all combinations, but it seemed to fit the situation here.
Micah is reluctant, that’s for sure! Here’s hoping Cat can sort him out. 🙂
Sounds like he’s already got a bit of an idea of what he’s up against.
I definitely don’t know what to make of Cat. At this point I’m siding with Micah. Get gone, neighbor!
Hahaha! I find it utterly delightful that every person has had a different reaction to Cat. Unfortunately for Micah, his nosy neighbor is sticking around.
That is definitely an interesting nickname for a guy to have, but I love the explanation behind it. Cannot wait to read more and see where this leads 🙂
He’s been a lot of fun to write, that’s for sure.
Puss In Boots.
I always appreciate neighbors who take the time to say hi. Helps quell my shyness. 🙂
Yep, it’s Puss in Boots. My family helped me decide. I went back and re-read it before I started writing, and it’s not even a great story—the princess falls “in love” with the miller’s son simply because he seems to have money and is maybe cute. He’d have been better off with the cat. As I’m not into that sort of relationship, I decided to make my Cat human, and I thought I might turn the “love at first sight” trope on its ear (and nope, Cat’s not the object of InstaLove).
I’m still giggling at the vastly different reactions Cat seems to elicit. Well, he’s nothing if not friendly, anyway. 🙂
InstaLling. *giggle* Awesome. 😀
Heh. That was a mean trick, auto-correct. InstaLOVE. Not installing or installable our any of your other suggested installations.
Nice excerpt! I love the reasoning behind Cat’s name. This definitely makes hin feel real. I can’t count the number of people I know with nicknames. These childhood names stuck so bad, I don’t actually know their legal names. 🙂
Ha! Yep, I know a few people like that. This particular story has several people with odd names that have a reason attached.
I think you picked a very cool fairy tale (that I was beaten to the guess at). Can’t wait to see what you let us see!
Also, I’m not very neighborly like Cat there. New neighbors moved in a couple months ago and I have only said hi once? (Next door is a rental and the people that tend to move in…)
Ha! Yep. I’m the same way. We have new neighbors, and the kids have already met them—but I haven’t! Cat is so much fun to write. He’s an odd mix of completely obnoxious and endearing, much like an actual cat.