Welcome, Wednesday! I’m really excited about a whole bunch of things this week. First of all, on the family/personal front, spouse, kids and I had a great time playing a new creative game on Monday (snow day!). We tried out something called Ninja Panda Taco, and you can check the link for more info. It’s a storytelling role-play game where you create pretty much all the elements. I highly recommend it.
Second, even though my kiddo didn’t make it into All-County jazz band this year, he had the highest score of any sixth grader. We’re so proud of him! On Sunday, he and I played in church, and one of the moms of his friend from Confirmation Class, who also happens to play saxophone, complimented him on his excellent tone.
Before I get to my professional exciting stuff, here are my ROW80 Goal Updates:
- Read 30 minutes/day—yup, easily
- Write 1 hour/day—Yes, including what I was supposed to be working on—more on that later.
- Write 1 blog post/week that isn’t ROW80 or WIPpet—yup.
- Write 1 flash fiction/month—it’s only a few days into the month, so not yet.
- Walk on the treadmill 5 days/week—no, but I shoveled a LOT of snow instead With my fibro, I have to pick one or the other, so I don’t feel too bad about that.
On to this week’s WIPpet.
Guess what guess what guess what??? [bounces on toes] I have a new project! Actually, I have almost 40k of a new project. Woo hoo! This is part of what will eventually be a series which I have officially titled Notes from Boston. The current novel is Anthem. I finally have titles I like that won’t be changing unless something weird happens.
For a bit of background, anyone who knows me is keenly aware of how much I dislike many Christian praise & worship songs. Specifically, I don’t like anything that sounds like I’m singing a romantic song to Jesus as my boyfriend. There was a big brouhaha a few years back over a song that sounds like it’s about sex but is really, truly about Jesus. I could not make this up. Anyway, back in college, I knew a few worship leaders who used to take popular love songs and turn them Christian by changing a few words. I wanted to experiment with doing exactly the opposite. So the running thread of the story is a rising Christian pop artist who writes a very conflicted song about sex, only to have it mistaken for his latest praise anthem. As it gains popularity, the rest of his life starts falling apart and he’s left with several messes which threaten his career.
Today, I’m giving you a bit of the prologue. New month, new WIP, so no fancy math this time.
The family area at the end of the hallway was packed with people, all of whom were waiting for the same outcome. The whole gang had assembled for their usual Friday night pizza, TV, and beer, minus the pizza and beer and with a random broadcast on the lounge television. In fact, considerably more than the whole gang had crammed into the small space. They were nearly on top of each other, and at least three people were wrestling for the remote, borrowed from the nurse’s station. Andre shook his head and rose to his feet, intending to hover impatiently by the door.
Mack was already there, peering over his shoulder into the hallway periodically and shaking his head. There wasn’t anywhere for him to sit, so he’d been appointed Official Watchman.“Why does it matter, anyway? We all know what’s going to happen,” he grumped.
“No, we don’t,” his sort-of girlfriend, Amelia, piped up. “Besides, you’re just pissed because you don’t have a seat.”
“Shut up!” Mack replied moving away from the door frame. “I just don’t get what all the fuss is about.”
They were too busy arguing to notice when Andre stepped around them to stand in the hallway. He was the first to see Trevor approaching. When their eyes met, Trevor stopped to lean on the wall by the door. He looked utterly exhausted; he scrubbed his hands over his face and closed his eyes. Andre, needing time to gather himself and talk to Trevor before before he announced his presence, came to stand facing his boyfriend. Trevor opened his eyes again and craned his neck to peek in at the two dozen or so assembled friends and family, which included his parents and Marlie’s as well as Andre’s. Andre followed his gaze, and he made eye contact with Nate. For a moment, Andre’s stomach clenched, and he prayed Nate would understand why they weren’t entering the room yet. Nate nodded, and Andre breathed a sigh of relief.
Everyone else was still immersed in conversation. No one except Nate was paying attention, so Andre stepped closer and reached out for Trevor. With shaking hands, Trevor slipped his arms around Andre’s neck.
“Okay?” Andre murmured.
“Yeah.” Trevor dropped his head to Andre’s shoulder. After a few seconds of silence, he mumbled into the fabric of Andre’s shirt, “She’s fine, and the baby’s fine.”
Relief flooded Andre, and he slumped against the man in front of him. It was his turn to close his eyes, squeezing them shut against the unexpected rush of grief. He breathed slowly, focusing on Trevor instead of his own jumbled thoughts. Without a word, Trevor folded Andre into his arms and held on, absorbing the emotions Andre couldn’t express. It was all right; Trevor understood why it was bittersweet for him. Andre withdrew and pressed a kiss to Trevor’s temple.
“Hey,” Trevor said. “Are you okay? I’d forgotten how hard this would be for you.”
“I’ll be all right. I just need a minute with you.”
They rested their foreheads together, eyes closed and hands clasped, breathing steadily. At last Trevor let go and raised his hand to cup Andre’s cheek.
“I’m…” His eyes shimmered. “We’re daddies.” A shaky laugh rumbled in his throat.
“Never thought I’d say that,” Andre murmured, placing his hand on top of Trevor’s.
“We good?” Trevor asked, his voice full of tenderness.
“I think so.” Andre leaned in to kiss Trevor. “Let’s go.”
As spoilery as it sounds, trust me, it’s not. You’ll just have to wait to see what it all means (unless I decide to be cruel, which is always a possibility).
Liked what you read? Join the fun by posting your own snippet, connected to the date, and adding it here. Don’t forget to check out the other WIPpeteers and offer them some love. Thanks again to K. L. Schwengel for bringing us together for a play date. Happy writing!
I know I’ve said this to you before, but I love the concept of this story. Do you know the name of the song that caused the kerfuffle? I wasn’t in a “cool” church at that time. Mine now is pretty good about avoiding creepy “Jesus is my lover” stuff.
“We’re daddies” just made me tear up so hard. Thanks for that.
Here’s the song: http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/lyricsdetail.php?lyrics_id=84111
There are some churchy lyrics, but the rest of it is pretty suggestive. There was some uproar about another song (which also might have been written by Matt Redman) with the words, “Jesus, I am so in love with you.” I wish I could find the blog post I read back then about it. The blogger pretty much said that one of the big problems with these songs is that they’re sung by people with really, really conservative views, and yet they hint strongly at male sexual love for Jesus. Conservative Christian worship leaders don’t care for the comparison.
As for the daddies thing…it’s how they get to that point which makes it fun. 🙂
Interesting. I don’t see the sexual connotations in that one, except that it’s more physically descriptive than most. I do hate the “Jesus should be your boyfriend until you land a husband” thing, though. Heaven forbid a woman should be in charge of herself. Nope, you get passed from father to husband, ladies, and let Jesus fill that gaping chasm for you if no one steps up right away. Can’t be without a man. -_-
Can you tell I feel like I missed out on some personal growth in my youth? 🙂
Yeah, I think with that one it was the very physical and sensual way worship is presented rather than the specific words. There’s one song where you just sing “Come, Lord Jesus, come” about five thousand times, and “I Want to Know You” is kind of weirdly sensual too. Praise songs aren’t the only culprits. Some hymns are questionable, like “He Touched Me.” I can’t even sing that one.
I never got the “your dad owns you then Jesus owns you then your husband owns you” thing at church. It was always just about how we had to be pure in our thoughts, words, and actions, and we weren’t supposed to want boyfriends or husbands because Jesus should be enough for us and we should not be sad in our singleness. Which, really, no one would have been at the ripe old age of 18 if we hadn’t been encouraged to be married before graduating college.
I can’t find the blog post about the link I put above, but I did find the one about “Jesus Is My Boyfriend” songs: http://pomomusings.com/2010/01/06/bad-praise-music/
Basically, this pretty much sums up Matt Redman songs. I know he got some backlash for the one I linked, though, so I wasn’t the only one to read into it. When I went back to my old blog post where I linked them, the link was broken. 🙁
In regards to the whole “your dad owns you then Jesus owns you then your husband owns you”, I am so glad that I stopped really going to church around when I hit puberty and purity rings became such a big thing. My dad, who was heavily involved in his church, tried oh so hard to have a talk with me about purity and my step mom bought me a ring to wear (which was gaudy as all get out) but I think my mom chewed him a new one when she found out.
Sorry, reading that brought back so many memories. And I can see it happening in my current church right now. It just gives me the heebie jeebies.
For sure. It’s definitely creepy and a very old-fashioned way of looking at stuff. I had already graduated college when that stuff really took off, but I know there was a small subset of people who were into it even when I was in high school. Somewhere around that time, boys giving their girlfriends “promise rings” became a big thing. I remember asking what the heck it meant, and I was told that it was like a promise that they were *going* to propose…eventually. Which made me go, “Then why not just do it?” That seemed to morph into promise rings that meant staying pure. I’m very glad my church doesn’t do that stuff. I’ve had a hard time explaining to people why I find it icky and not “sweet.”
I like the concept of the story. 🙂
It was originally supposed to be a short story, but I couldn’t find a use for it. The story itself has changed drastically, but the general premise is the same.
Love the idea. I can see how this can give you a whole plethora of ways to explore spirituality, relationships, etc. The only successful love song turned worship I’ve experienced is I’m Everything I Am because you Loved Me.
Exactly. I used to be wary of writing about spirituality, especially in relationships, but I’ve discovered a lot of people actually enjoy reading that stuff. It’s a big part of many people’s lives.
That song was one of the ones that the worship band at my college did, but there were a few others, too. I don’t know if it’s still trendy to do it, but for a while, it was popular for Christian bands to do covers of songs that weren’t worship but had spiritual themes.
Interesting concept for your new series, Amy. Being agnostic, though, I don’t know anything about the conflict behind the idea.
Great excerpt. 🙂
Only the first one is on this theme, fortunately. The other stories are about this MC’s roommates.
It’s definitely not a concept that everyone would be familiar with. I hope I can use it to explore more than just the specific religious song stuff, though.
I love the premise! It made me laugh, but I can also see the potential it has to explore relationships, spirituality – the whole shebang. Very clever. Love the snippet, too. A lot. What a great group of characters, and already done emotional charge, there. Plus, AWWW. That daddy line was just plain sweet.
Thanks! Yeah, I do want to explore those themes through this premise, especially the taboos and the complicated crossover of spirituality and human relationships. I’m glad you liked the daddy line! 🙂
The whole excerpt was just so sweet. Absolutely lovely. It sounds like a really interesting premise too. I’m looking forward to reading more about it.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
I love this scene – don’t know everything involved, but it seems like a happy time.
Yeah, this is part of the draft of the prologue, and some parts of the beginning are going to have to change, so hopefully it will end up having a bit more coherent context.
I got dizzy trying to figure it out… but then that Daddy line came, and, suddenly, none of the rest of it made any difference. Daddies!
But why do I have a feeling that being a daddy this way might cause him even more complications!
Oh, being a daddy this way is actually one of the complications. It probably wouldn’t have been his first choice for how his life worked out, but by this point, he’s worked a lot out.
This was originally very different and appeared further on in the story. Due to a huge plot change, I ended up moving it. Not the best way to introduce the multiple characters, and it’s likely going to change vastly by the time all the editing is done.
I remember when I was younger thinking that a lot of current gospels were more lovey dovey than actually praising God, and I thought it was a bit weird – but I totally missed any hubbub that might have caused since I wasn’t really involved in church at that time. Nowadays my husband and I go to church, but we deliberately miss the praise music section (partly because they sing the same four songs every week and partly because it’s too loud)
That is a really interesting idea for a story, and I can’t wait to see more.
We were at a church that only had more “modern” music. I found the same thing–either the same few songs or they were hard to sing because they were meant as radio songs, not ones for a group of people. Our current church is more old-fashioned, so we sing mostly hymns. I suppose it’s mostly a matter of taste, and this is what I prefer. I do want to be mindful that it’s not just praise songs but even some older hymns have sort of weird lyrics sometimes.
I was brought up in a very old fashioned Lutheran church so we didn’t really get exposed to any of the weird “Jesus be my boyfriend” stuff. That would probably make me leave. Eek!
I really love the premise of your story. That moment where they come together and announce they will be Daddies is amazing. So absolutely touching.
On a side note have you seen the film clip to that song…”Take me to Church, by Hozier?” Or something?
Watch it. It’s intense. That’s what this reminded me of.
I love that song! The video…oh, my. It is very it intense, but it’s amazing.
I’m currently at a more old-fashioned Lutheran church. It was a better fit than the rock-style contemporary church service, for sure.
I’m glad people liked the “daddies” line. The fun is in how they get there, hopefully with some good surprises along the way. 🙂