Happy Wednesday! Excuse my cranky mood. In the last week, we’ve had 4 days off from school, a wind storm, and a giant snowstorm. I’m used to spending most of my day alone and having plenty of time to work. Only one out of the last 7 days has been a work day for me, and I’m going bananas.
Meanwhile, I did at least get some things accomplished. I finished going over the print proof for Nightsong, which is out in May. Confession: I hate going back over my novels before release. There are so many things I’m second-guessing, especially in this one because there’s a sensitive subject involved. And of course, I’m flipping out that the several reviewers who have taken it will hate it. I’m not popular with a particular type of reader, and I always worry those sorts will take my books because I know I can’t meet their expectations. (It’s happened before.) Anyway, I need to stop doing this to myself.
I also have gorgeous new cover art for Keeping the Faith and a November release date for that one. The short story I’ve been pulling from is in a collection I plan to release self-pubbed over the summer, hopefully July, currently titled Leaps of Faith.
Now for the WIPpet. Remember, LR has been trying to figure out how to tell her family something. She’s stalling, even though deep down she knows it will be all right. Here, she acknowledges Cat’s not going to let it go, but he may be hiding something of his own.
WIPmath: 3/15 = 3 + (1 x 5) = 8 paragraphs, mostly dialog.
Mom put a steaming bowl in front of her along with a spoon. LR picked up the spoon and hesitated. Despite her earlier misgivings, the soup smelled good, and her stomach rumbled. She supposed if it made her sick later, at least she might feel better in the moment. Cat had made himself something else. He couldn’t tolerate spicy foods at all. He sat down across from LR and began eating as well.
“Why aren’t you with David?” LR asked.
“He’s working all weekend.”
She frowned. “I thought he switched to the clinic to avoid the weird hours.”
“No,” Cat corrected her. “He switched because hospital work is too hard on him since the stroke.” Like Cat, David had hemophilia, and he’d had a mini-stroke the previous summer.
“Oh. They’re open on weekends?”
“He’s putting in some volunteer hours at the women’s center. So I’m going to help Dad with a few things while I’m home, and I’ll do my usual time at the cafe.”
LR wanted to ask if everything was okay between them. It seemed to her that Cat could’ve gone to David’s apartment after working hours. She dropped it. If Cat wanted to tell her anything, he would include it in their late-night talk after their parents had turned in.
Like what you read? Be sure to check out the other entries and add your own. Just post a bit of your WIP, connect it to the date, and link up with us. Many thanks to Emily Witt for giving us this space. Happy reading and writing!
Debbie McGowan
They have such a good relationship. I bet they have some hilarious late-night talks, too. So, still no closer to finding out what’s going on with LR…I’m guessing these snippets are going to bypass that completely. Still, more stories! 🙂
AM Leibowitz
I was actually planning to get to it this week (because honestly, I don’t see it as spoilers–the story is actually about how LR got her tats). But I forgot that there was this bit here first.
My kids still share a room on weekends when they don’t have to get up for school. They were saying the other day that the reason they still like to is so they can have post-bedtime talks like this. (And that, of course, is why they’re not allowed on weekdays!)
Debbie McGowan
It’s cool they have that kind of relationship, but yes, I can imagine there would be two very tired kids heading for school each morning if they did it all the time.
AM Leibowitz
I love that they can talk to each other, but yeah, that would not be good every night! The main reason is that he’s an early bird (hits the ground running around 5:30 every day but is wiped out by 8:30pm), and she’s a night owl (would love to stay up until midnight, but struggles to stay awake even if I get her up at the last possible second to get ready for school).
Fallon
I want to know what’s going on between Cat and David now. 😉 And still what’s going on with LR. I do love their relationship, though. I’m certainly not that close to either of my sisters. And the two of them were always more likely to start to argue than have a nice conversation.
AM Leibowitz
Cat and David would require another story. Let’s just say Cat is worried that he’s “settling” for David. I’m pretty sure next week’s snippet should clear up what’s going on with LR.
Emily Witt
I hear you on worrying about readers’ reactions just before release. I had a scene in A More Complicated Fairytale that could possibly have been read a particular way and while you would nearly have to actively misinterpret the scene to get that meaning from it, once it occurred to me the possibility was there, I couldn’t shake the concern.
I like this snippet – there’s clearly some tricky stuff going on with Cat and David, on top of whatever is also going on with LR (looking forward to discovering that soon).
K.S. Trenten
I love how you’re interconnecting your characters from different pieces with others…Cat does seem like a character who brings people together.