Happy Wednesday! My NaNoWriMo novel is kind of a mess, but I think I know how I’m going to begin fixing it. Lessons learned: Don’t bother planning ahead and This is much easier with a partly-written story (which is what I did last year). I tried to have the story mapped out, and I ended up with my main character in love with the wrong person. My muse is laughing at me, and my stubborn characters need to be taught the lesson that if they go after trouble, it’s going to find them.
Today is the last of my short stories written for launch month. You can read the other snippets here, here, and here, and everything is available in the bookstore. Today’s will be up later for 25 cents until December. The last two months have been a hell of a ride, with book launch and all, and I’m grateful to every person who made it possible.
In keeping with my theme of playing with different ideas and genres, today’s story is a wedding tale. It’s my favorite—n0t because it’s the best of the lot (I think my erotic short is probably my best-written) but because I wrote it for a friend. I’ve used these characters in flash fiction before, and they’re the only married couple I’ve written about (so far). This story is set before the events in the flash fiction, but it’s not necessary to have read those.
Anyway, here are 28 sentences. 26 for the 26th + 1 + 1 (from 11). The context is they’ve been together nearly two years. Al proposed, and Chad didn’t say yes right away, which led to some tension and Al explaining.
Just as Chad thought the eggs were going to go cold, Al appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. He plunked himself down in a chair and turned to face Chad.
“At least hear me out,” he said.
“Of course.” Chad entertained the idea of reaching for him but nixed it. He wrapped his hands around his coffee mug to keep them occupied.
“I still feel exactly the same way I did before—I absolutely do not need a contract in order to know we love each other. But…” He pursed his lips, his brows knitted. “I want to do it anyway. Maybe it’s not logical, and maybe it doesn’t really matter. I’m not sure I care. All I know is, I want the magic, okay? I want the big, fucking gay fairy tale. There. I said it.” His face relaxed, and he blew out his breath. “I’m secretly the heroine of a damn cartoon movie—one with a lot of singing.”
“So…you want a wedding?” Confused, Chad put his mug down. “We can do that without all the—”
“No!” Al threw his hands up. “I mean I want the whole thing. The ceremony, yeah, but I want it to mean something. I want to have the legal right to call you my husband.” He shook his head, and a smile inched across his face. “And yeah, I want a real wedding, with cake and decorations and horrible renditions of sappy love songs and a hundred people staring at us while we stumble through a dance, trying not to step on each other.”
As always, thanks to K. L. Schwengel for making this all happen. If you want to read the other WIPpets (and I strongly urge you to do so), you can find them here. You can also add your own by posting a bit of your own work-in-progress, connecting it to the date any way you like, and sharing it on the link-up. Happy writing!
Awwwww… I want to go to their big, sappy wedding.
Me too!
I’m secretly the heroine of a damn cartoon movie—one with a lot of singing.
Excellent, excellent line. 🙂
LOL! That’s one of my favorites. This whole thing has the same light-hearted tone to it.
Aww, this is so sweet. I hope Al gets his fairytale wedding.
There will be a bump or two, but he will. No worries.
* All I know is, I want the magic, okay? I want the big, fucking gay fairy tale. There. I said it.” His face relaxed, and he blew out his breath. “I’m secretly the heroine of a damn cartoon movie—one with a lot of singing.”*
*“I mean I want the whole thing. The ceremony, yeah, but I want it to mean something. I want to have the legal right to call you my husband.” He shook his head, and a smile inched across his face. “And yeah, I want a real wedding, with cake and decorations and horrible renditions of sappy love songs and a hundred people staring at us while we stumble through a dance, trying not to step on each other.*
The whole thing is sweet and tense, and ripe with the possibility that it could all turn out just right, or be the beginning of a huge blowup…your create that perfect tension with the hands on the mug instead of reaching for his love, and I could almost feel the warm mug in my yearning hands.
Humor, sensory detail, stakes, and realizations….delicious as overpriced wedding cake! =D
I’m glad you liked it! This is one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. About 2 years ago, I wrote a story about something else, and Chad appeared in it–one of several men created as side characters. My husband said, “I’d love to read more about any of these guys.” So I wrote about them, including Chad. He and Al got 3 stories, I think. They were my first hesitant “what will people think” pairing of two men (not counting fan fiction). Then at some point, the friend I wrote this for and I were talking about one of the stories, and I commented that Chad hadn’t given me his history yet. Now, all this time later, I was able to write the “prequel” to the flash fiction I’d written before.
“I’m secretly the heroine of a damn cartoon movie—one with a lot of singing.”
That is one of the best lines ever. I do hope he gets his wedding, and that it doesn’t show up on an episode of Bridezilla! 😉
He gets his wedding, in shades of pink. 🙂 I love it because Al is such a beer-and-sports outdoorsy/works with his hands kind of guy, but pink is his favorite color.
Love the update on NaNoWriMo as the month winds down, and I’m also looking at a mess of drafted scenes. And I especially like this tender love scene which rings true to that uncertainty and hope that’s behind a proposal. Who doesn’t want the magic? Write on!
I finished NaNo, but I have this huge tangle of who-knows-what to make sense of. I guess that’s what the next few months are for!
I’m glad you liked the snippet. 🙂
I feel your NaNo pain! I had mine about half-planned, but then once I wrote past that it took an unexpected turn and now feels like quite a different story with the same characters.
This excerpt is completely adorable. I love that last paragraph, that really is the most accurate description of any wedding I’ve been to.