Happy Saturday! Hope all is well with everyone. Our trip last weekend was wonderful. It’s hard to believe it’s already been a full 7 days since we first met some dear friends and colleagues in person for the first time.
Before I get to my snippet, I have a maybe odd request. I have to make a decision about a story that’s currently a 25k novella. I can either leave it as-is and include it in an upcoming anthology, or I can make it a full-length novel. The publisher is okay with either, but I’m finding the decision impossible. It’s not even remotely a romance; it’s YA set in the early 1990s. If anyone wants to have a look, let me know. I do NOT need a full beta read, just a more objective opinion on whether to make it longer or not.
My snippet is still from Keeping the Faith. I doubt it will actually win at the Bisexual Book Awards, but I’m thrilled just to have it be a finalist. This is probably the novel I’m most proud of. It’s a very personal story, and it’s amazing to have my hard work recognized in any sense.
In this snippet, Micha’s found some letters written by his dead spouse in the months before his death. He’s opening the first one.
Micah opened the first letter. Inside, he found the key to the lock box and a folded piece of paper. He withdrew both and set the key on top of the box. Slowly, he unfolded the letter and read the greeting. He only got as far as Dearest Micah when he let the paper fall from his fingers. His immediate urge was to shove it back into the envelope and never open it again nor any of the others.
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Oh, what a heart wrenching snippet. I’ve got too much on my plate to read for you and offer opinion, but I wish you all the best. Thank you for sharing. And Happy Writing!
Thank you! 🙂
No worries on the time thing—I totally understand. I figure if I put it here on my blog and ask around in all my groups, I’ll get a nibble somewhere. I don’t know why I’m struggling so much to make a decision; I’m usually confident about the length of what I write.
Yeah, I STILL haven’t forgiven you for killing my kitty, but I have to admit this is a very sweet snippet and the letters,..Oh my goodness. 😀
I’ll read your story if you still need someone. send to chakira@hotmail.co.uk
Thank you! I am sneaky…I’m working on a couple of things, and the advantage of setting this novel in the future is that I can always bring things back to “real time.” Floating around somewhere on my blog is a cute story about Micah, Cat, ice cream, and riding in cars with boys. And I have two projects where Cat is in the background but not the main character.
I’ll send over the story. I don’t know why I’m struggling so much with this, maybe because it’s personal on a different level from Keeping the Faith.
This week has been really weird after such a great weekend. It was lovely to meet you and your family. As for your decision, gosh, I really don’t know what to say to help you. I have no idea how you can keep a story to 25k in the first place. Is this the one I partially read on Google docs? Because I’d really want to read more, but it’s your baby.
I can put it up on Google Docs again and pass along the link. I can’t think why it’s aggravating me so much.
Keeping things short is usually easy for me. I’m far better with short stories than full novels. I think it’s more fear of failure (like, this is YA, and getting it into the right hands isn’t going to be easy with a novella rather than a full novel, I think).
It was really fun spending time with your family. My kids are still talking about it too. 🙂
I read this one before (I have the book) It made my heart wince then, and it makes my heart wince now.
Oh… tear-inducing snippet.
Intense, heartbreaking, filling with intense curiosity over what it says yet sympathetic to poor Micah’s shock.
A heartbreaking scene, so intense, and now I want to know what is in the box!
I don’t think I could face reading those letters, especially if I hadn’t known they were there. Or at least not until a very long time had passed.
And if you still need another pair of eyes, I’d be happy to take a look.
I have taken novellas and expanded them. It can be a surprising amount of work.
Reading those letters would be heartbreakingly hard.
This novel tugged at my heartstrings all the way through.
It must be heartbreaking for him to find the letters and very hard for him to face reading them.
Oh dear. Poor guy. ♡