I usually try to keep the tone of my WIPpet posts light, but I’m just not feeling it today. It’s one of those days when I’m not sure I want to finish editing this project or start anything new. I wrote a blog post on Monday, in hopes of having an actual conversation about it. It turns out most people are probably looking for validation rather than action, and true to form, I’m sure I misread that. I’ve never been great with that kind of social cue. Some of the things that have been said to me since have left me feeling…well, not much like writing, anyway. I’m pretty sure that taking my thoughts public effectively destroyed any hope I have as an author, which makes it all feel pointless. (If you’re curious, you can read that post here.)
Anyway, whether it’s pointless or not, I’m still going to share a bit of my WIP because this is one place I do feel like I belong. So I’m sharing from my almost-complete work-in-edits, Keeping the Faith. When we last saw Micah, he was meeting a new coworker. Here’s a bit more.
WIPmath: 2/8/17 = 2 + 8 + 7 = 17 sentences.
“You’ll love it here,” Micah told her. “I’ve lived in town for nearly twelve years, and we’re our own little rainbow paradise on the lake. Probably a bit more small-town sheltered than most queer-friendly places, but it works for us. Pretty touristy in the summer, if you can handle that sort of thing.”
“Wow,” Jude said. Her expression was touched with a bit of sadness for a moment before her cheerful demeanor returned. “Well, I can’t wait to learn more. I don’t know anyone here yet—I meant it when I said I just moved, and not only to my classroom.”
“I should introduce you to a few people,” Micah said without thinking. He could have kicked himself. Surely someone as young and vivacious as Jude didn’t want to hang around with people twice her age.
Jude didn’t seem to be bothered. “Sure, that would be great.” She grinned. “Just so you know, though, I don’t date men or coworkers.”
Taken aback, Micah snorted a laugh. “Well, you’re in luck, because while I do date men—mostly—I’m in complete agreement about coworkers.”
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“our own little rainbow paradise on the lake”
I don’t think you could have chosen a more apt WIPpet excerpt, given Monday’s post and what you said about it above. Firstly, many many hugs and much respect for that post. I absolutely support you, and I really hope the horrible feelings pass quickly. I’ll leave discussion of this for another place.
The rapport between Micah and Jude is fab. Even in these few lines, there’s such ease and fun between them (along with a mini helping of Micah insecurity, of course). 🙂
I can tell I’m mostly okay. Upset, but not actually depressed. I cleaned my kitchen and volunteered to iron things for the school play. That may sound silly, but if I’m not okay, those are the first things to go.
Every Tuesday, we have a writing chat on Twitter, and last night’s was really good. It was all about non-romantic relationships. I don’t mind romance, but it’s friendships and family which really spark me. That’s what I usually find to be the most interesting part of a book, even in a romance novel. Not sure yet what to do with that information, but there it is. That’s what I’m looking for when I want a book that “doesn’t do The Thing.”
I do like Jude. 🙂 Although it’s Micah’s relationship with LR that I truly love in this one.
Loved Micah’s response to Jude. 🙂
😀 They’re definitely fun to write together.
This felt like a comfortable “moving in” scene to me. Normal people, sharing their views on themselves and the state of their world. I really like Micah. Though… where is that cat? 😉
I cannot speak on your other blog post. I mean, i get what you are saying, but I feel I cannot speak on it, since I don’t write ‘romance’ of any kind as such (I include elements of romance along the M/M, MFM, F/F lines, but as I don’t read the actual romance genres, I don’t feel I have a say). That said, I would love romance (no matter the sub-genre) to be about the relationships and interaction between the individuals than about the physical genitalia (despite loving to write and imagine sex scenes between my favorite characters)
And in that… I probably have crashed myself as an author too. :-/
Heh, which cat? 😉 This story has two, although only one of them is of the furry sort.
I think you are indeed allowed a say on my other post if you’re part of the writing community which includes a various-gender relationships. You’ve hit on an interesting thing—enjoying reading/writing about sex scenes among various characters, but not necessarily wanting to write romance or erotica. I think more people feel that way than just you. I definitely enjoy reading them when they’re well-crafted, but I don’t necessarily like writing them myself! And maybe this speaks to the issue of “genre literature.” We do tend to like our categories, and maybe in some sense it makes it easier to find a cozy mystery or a space adventure. But what happens when a person crosses genres or prefers to read mixed-genre novels? Also, authors of young adult fiction have commented that YA is not a genre, it’s an age range—so you can have YA fantasy or YA romance or YA literary fiction. Books, much like life, are a lot messier than most people realize.
I loved the ‘rainbow paradise’ line too. That was really cute.
I applaud you for taking the leap and writing that post. I’m about a cishet as they come, but I’m trying my best to be an ally, and I’m trying to reflect that in my reading. I’m not sure whether this is more a YA thing or a general fiction thing, but I’ve been taking a lot of notice of the #ownvoices movement recently, where readers are trying to preference writing by people from the minorities that are being written about (whether LGBTQIA, racial, etc) over privileged people writing about those minorities (though like you said, not actually telling anyone they should *stop* writing about these communities, but letting those with the experiences speak and be heard).
As for your WIPpet, I really like the dialogue. It runs smoothly, and I think Micah’s internal kicking himself is really realistic.