Writing Wednesday: It’s done!

This weekend, I finished my self-edits on Tree of Life and sent it to the publisher. I’ve been working on this novel for almost two years, on and off. Last fall, I got the first draft done, but I ended up with a lot going on in between then and now.

It feels good to have this off my plate. I have three projects after this one: my time-loop novel (which was postponed, and good thing—it was meant to coincide with a local festival that didn’t happen this year); a collaborative project with a colleague; and a novel set in the same town as my Faithfully Yours series. The time-loop novel is in rough draft form now. The other two are still in the writing stage.

Today, I’m sharing an excerpt from Tree of Life. Here’s the blurb:

Luke works a job he hates and shares a dirty, small apartment, barely making ends meet and envying the successes of his friends. When they all return for a wedding, Luke comes face to face with one of the people he left behind when he took off. Instead of the bitterness Luke expects, Connor invites him on a forty-day, cross-country trip. 

They travel the length of route I-90, following the last journey Connor’s father made from Boston to Seattle, recorded in a nearly incoherent memoir. Along the way, Luke’s carefully hidden past catches up with him when it collides with Connor’s present. With the help of friends and strangers, both of them must learn what home and family mean before Luke runs away again.

This is the closest I’ve gotten to “real” literary fiction, which has a lot of layers to it. That’s how it ended up taking so long to finish. But I’m happy; this is what I’ve wanted to write. My work is primarily slice-of-life contemporary.

On to the excerpt. Here, our characters have stopped for a break. They have some extra passengers, including a hitchhiker who may or may not hold the key to Luke’s past.

When they stop at a gas station an hour into Ohio, Jory takes off for the side of the building to smoke. Luke slides out of the RV while Connor pumps gas, and he meanders over toward the convenience store under the pretext of going inside. He hovers, though, watching Jory enjoy their smoke. Luke could stare at them all day.

They aren’t really like Jax, but they aren’t unlike Jax either. Luke is fascinated in all the same ways. Thinking about Jax propels him forward the rest of the way into the store. He shouldn’t be thinking about either of them, Jax or Jory. There is too much history with the former, and too much baggage with the latter.

Browsing the aisles takes his mind off it. They don’t need any more food or snacks—Connor stocked up in Buffalo at the grocery store, so they have what they need for a while. Luke isn’t going to buy anything; he needs the distraction of looking at neck pillows and energy drinks and air fresheners. Not to mention it’s cooler inside the store.

While he’s checking out a rack of baseball caps with corny sayings on them, he catches Jory out of the corner of his eye. They must’ve come in while Luke was in one of the aisles. He would have to pass them in order to exit the store. To avoid conversation, Luke beelines for the checkout and picks up a pack of gum he probably won’t chew.

He’s finishing up paying when a voice behind him says, “Hey.”

He turns his head slowly toward Jory. “Hi.”

Jory has several packages of chips and a neck pillow. “Grabbing some stuff for the road.”

“I see that.” He waves at the snacks. “We have food in the RV.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t want to count on you all being super generous about that, especially Connor. Is he always this much of a dick?”

Luke laughs. “Actually, yeah. Or he used to be, anyway, but he’s finally figured out his filter most of the time.”

“I don’t think he likes me.”

“He doesn’t hate you.”

Jory scoffs, but there’s amusement hidden in it. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“Not really.”

“You’re kind of a dick too, just less of one.” Jory grins.

Luke hands over his bank card to pay for the gum, which is possibly overkill for something that’s only a dollar. He steps aside to let Jory up to the register. No one other than Greg has ever accused him of being a dick before. Even Greg didn’t exactly. He was more likely to call Luke a slut or a queen, and neither was meant as a sexy shared joke between lovers. He knew Adam thought mostly the same, but he was at least polite enough not to say so.

“I haven’t decided yet whether I like you either,” he tells Jory.

“Yes, you have.” Jory winks.

Luke gives them a dark look he doesn’t really mean and stalks out of the store with the sound of Jory’s laughter in his ears. They’re right, of course, but Luke is for sure not going to admit it. He shoves the gum into his jeans pocket and returns to the RV.

Like what you read? Stay tuned for more information about this novel. Happy reading!