Other Relationships

Happy Wednesday! Hope everyone’s week was good. It’s been busy here as usual, but it’s also been good. Counting down the days to the next 3 big things: My book launch, my fall concert, and my kids’ school musical.

Speaking of book launch…I’m still looking for bloggers willing to host me for the book tour for Walking by Faith. You’re not obligated to review, but if you were going to read it anyway, here’s your chance for a free copy! Just sign up at the linky-doo: WbF Blog Tour Form.

On to the WIPpet. In happy news, Nightsong is no longer a WIP. It’s stick-a-fork-in-it done, so today is the last snippet. I figured you’d at least like to see a bit of Nate and Izzy interacting. Not like you didn’t know they’d end up together, of course. Next week, I’ll have to figure out what to post. I have 4 WIPs, so I may take a page out of Fallon‘s book and post rotating snippets. (And thanks, Fallon, for that—I finally have a system that works with my brain’s wiring! 🙂 )

WIPmath: 10/19/16 = 16 short paragraphs for the year because I’m lazy today and I like this snippet.

Around him, he heard clinking of forks, but no one said anything else. The phone in Nate’s pocket buzzed, and he pulled it out, grateful for the distraction. Mom glared at him for checking it at the table, so Nate pushed back his seat as he answered. He stood up and walked into the kitchen.

“Hello?”

“Hey…is this Nate Kingsley?”

“Yes. Who is this?”

“Israel Kaplan.”

“Who?” Nate frowned.

“Oh. Um, TaTa, from the bar.”

Nate sucked in a breath. TaTa had a real name after all. He grinned. “I’m glad you called, Israel.”

“You can call me Izzy. I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t interrupt your dinner.”

“You did, but you rescued me from the clutches of parents who ask too many questions they don’t want a real answer to.” From the dining room, Nate heard baby Margot’s wail. “Hang on, let me go somewhere quieter.”

He skipped up the stairs to what had once been his bedroom but was now an office. He shut the door and dropped into a plush chair.

“Was that a baby I heard?” Izzy asked.

“Yeah, my niece. She’s ten months. So, how are you?”

“I’m good. I’m sorry it took me so long to call.” There was an extended pause. “I was nervous.”

Nate laughed. “For real? I’m not that scary, am I?”

“No.” Izzy chuckled. “It’s just been a long time since I’ve called anyone for a date.”

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!

Happy Wednesday! Hope everyone’s week was good. I spent the last several days deep in my editing cave, getting the last of my manuscript ready for beta readers. It’s in the “cleaned up” first draft stage, which means it’s been combed through several times. My excellent betas are on the job looking for trouble spots and where I could do a bit better. Then it will go through a last round of my edits before I send it off to my publisher. I think I should be all done by the end of the month!

Aside from that, we’re still dealing with some issues at school with one of our beans and their educational needs. Fighting for them to get the support they should have is not fun, and I anticipate a contentious battle.

On to the WIPpet. I mentioned last time that there are now a lot of spoilers, but I can definitely still post a few things. This week, I’m drawing from a scene later in the novel. Yesterday was National Coming Out Day, and in this bit, Nate has just revealed something important to his family. Not that he’s gay—they already know that—but something else which [spoilers]. This is Nate talking to his older brother, who has also revealed something to Nate.

WIPmath: 10/12/16 = 10 + (1 + 2) + 16 = 29 sentences.

They stood there for a long time. Nate studied his brother. They looked so much alike that they’d been mistaken for twins despite their age gap. Nate wondered if it would have made a difference, knowing. If he’d have cut his parents some slack or tried harder to get along with Dean as a teenager. In fairness, their parents hadn’t been upset when Nate came out, and they’d put him through college. They’d just expressed their disapproval of his profession the whole time. He wondered if things would have been different if they hadn’t felt guilty about what happened to Dean.

Nate gave a sharp nod. There wasn’t anything left to say. An understanding passed between them, and Nate turned back to his work. Beside him, Dean began clearing his end of the shelf into another box. He paused, and Nate glanced over.

“I went, you know,” he said in a low voice.

“Went where?”

“To every single one of your concerts and plays. I sneaked in and hid in back. Last fall, I saw Die Fledermaus twice.” The corner of his mouth lifted. “You’re not a screw-up. I’m really proud of you, little brother.”

Nate ducked his head so Dean wouldn’t see the tears forming. A warm hand ruffled his hair before disappearing. The thunk of something metal dropping into the box made Nate look up.

“What the hell was that?”

Dean bent and picked it up again. “Ancient roller skate. God, don’t Mom and Dad ever throw anything away?”

They laughed, and Nate no longer felt the cold out in the garage.

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!

Happy Wednesday! Finally fully into the swing of the new school year. Play rehearsals have started for real, and my older child is back to early morning jazz band practice. I think we’re done adding new things to the schedule. Whew!

It’s been a mildly frustrating week with a lot of things going on, including my stress over editing this novel. It’s basically done but still in pieces as I figure out how to fit it all together. Realized that in adding scenes, I’d created a huge gap in the timeline. I might have fixed it now. I hope.

On to the WIPpet. We’re sort of into spoiler territory with Nate now, so I’m going back to Izzy. He and Nate have yet to meet in person. In this scene, Izzy is lamenting how he keeps getting dragged into his ex-wife’s business despite having been divorced for a few years and not having children together. (Note: “Shomrei Sholom” means “peacekeepers.”)

WIPmath: 5 paragraphs for the 5th.

Val got up to throw away her trash. “This is why I suggested setting you up. She can’t have this power over you every time something happens with her. You’re not part of her life anymore, and she needs to wake up and realize it’s not your concern.”

“I know. Eema and Ma Rose mean well too, and I’m sure if I were involved with someone else, they would stop dragging me into it as well. I don’t want to have to go meet people with that in mind, though.”

“If this is all because you know the same people, maybe you need some new friends.” Val arched an eyebrow.

Izzy looked away. He couldn’t explain to Val the ways in which his family life was intimately tied to other members of his community, in part because of the choices his mothers made. They couldn’t go back to where they’d come from and relied on their friends and neighbors from Temple Shomrei Sholom. Maybe he was exaggerating the extent to which he was unwelcome, but he didn’t like being eyed with pity over the collapse of his union with Lynne. He’d grown up with these people, including Lynne’s family. Even though he’d blanched at the idea of an entire group of his mothers’ friends discovering his night life, he knew none of them would care or hold it against him. Judith Rivkin’s daughter married another woman, after all, and Eema’s rabbi and the rebner—his husband—had a houseful of kids and a menagerie of pets.

The realization Eema and Ma Rose’s social circle was probably talking about his alter ego amused him. He turned a huff into a chuckle. “Maybe I do need to expand my world. Should I try online dating?”

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!

Let the drama begin! Onstage, that is. Both my kids will be in the cast of their school’s production of Elf Jr., the Musical. My older one will be playing Buddy (the Elf of the title, if you haven’t seen the movie or the stage show). My younger one will be in the ensemble, and this is her first show, so it’s pretty exciting! I already have the main song stuck in my head.

On to the WIPpet. Last time, Nate ran into an old boyfriend. You can see in this snippet what became of that encounter, although it’s not looking like it will end well.

WIPmath: 9/28 = 28 sentences + 2 bonus because I can’t math today.

Nate was almost too blissed-out to notice when Rocco’s phone rang. Through his sleepy haze, Nate felt motion next to him. He rolled over and admired the curve of Rocco’s butt as the sheet slipped to reveal it when he reached over to the night stand.

“This is Rocco.” Pause. “Yes, that would be fine.” Pause. “I’m with a client right now, but I can set it up after my meeting.” His eyes flicked to Nate. “No, that’s not possible.” He covered the phone with his hand and whispered, “Be right back.”

He rose from the bed and stalked into the bathroom. For a moment, it was quiet, and then he heard Rocco’s muffled voice. He sounded angry, and Nate caught a few words like “let’s not do this now” and “we’ll discuss it later” and “it’s not a good time.”

Rocco opened the bathroom door and stepped out. “I’ll call you back shortly.” He ended the call and set the phone back on the nightstand then lay back down on the bed. “Sorry about that.” He ran his hand over Nate’s chest and kissed him.

Nate shrugged, but his gut twisted. Del’s words haunted him, his advice on which men to avoid. He was nothing more than a “client” for now, someone Rocco could write off to his wife—whether or not she was really soon to be his ex—as a lunch meeting. How many other “clients” had Rocco had before, hotel bills he claimed were just drinks at the bar to entertain a business associate? Nate thought back to their first encounter, how easy it was to find Rocco and how he’d been eager to go with Nate even though he claimed he couldn’t be caught with an old boyfriend’s phone number. They’d been meeting up regularly for close to a month with no indication from Rocco where it was going. Nate thought back to his acquaintance who had claimed a two-year affair with Rocco. He wondered how many others there had been.

It was a sobering thought, one which brought on a new rush of worries he dismissed. “It’s fine,” he said, even though he really wanted to ask Rocco a few pointed questions.

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!

Week one of school down, and the kids have already had the first info meeting for the middle school musical. They’ll be doing Elf Jr., which should be a lot of fun. Meanwhile, we start bell choir practice tonight and music lessons Friday. I know it sounds like we’re very busy—and we are!—but most of what we do is only a short part of each day, and a lot of it (like bells) is volunteer stuff. The fun of being involved in the arts.

On to the WIPpet. Nate continues his pattern of poor decision-making, helped along by circumstances. Here, he reconnects with an old acquaintance.

WIPmath: 9/14 = 14 – 9 = 5 paragraphs

Dating apps had never appealed, mainly because Nate wasn’t generally interested in hooking up, but Del had assured him he knew a number of people who had found a long-term match that way. Maybe Nate could locate someone who was bored on his lunch hour and wanted a cup of coffee and some casual conversation. He was about to open an app when a shadow fell across him. He looked up, shielding his eyes. A well-dressed man carrying a briefcase was on his way up the steps.

Their eyes met, and recognition struck both of them almost simultaneously—Nate saw his own realization reflected in the other man’s face. His mouth dropped open, and he scrambled to stand up.

“Nate?” The man gaped at him. “Nate Kingsley?”

“R-Rocco Alessi,” Nate answered.

His heart sped up at the sight of his high school boyfriend. Rocco at twenty-four was even more strikingly handsome than Nate had remembered him at eighteen. A tsunami of memories, good and bad, hit him. Rocco had been his first everything—first official boyfriend, first sex, first “I love you,” first person to smash his heart into smithereens. Even now, years later, he had the ability to turn Nate into a pile of awestruck goo with a single glance while simultaneously causing him to ache with dashed hope.

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!

Happy Wednesday! I just sent my two off for their first day of school, grades 6 and 8. Both of them are excited and nervous but ready to get started. I can’t wait to hear how it all went when they get home. Meanwhile, this is the longest stretch of uninterrupted work I’ve ever had. My day now starts at 7:15 when the kids leave, and I have until 1:30 when I take the dog for a walk before the kids arrive home. It’s strange and wonderful all at once.

On to the WIPpet. I’ll bet you’d all like to go check in on Nate and see what he’s up to. In Anthem, Nate made some poor choices which affected his relationship with his best friend. Here, in Nightsong, he’s somewhere between “still being an ass” and “doing penance for his sins.”

WIPmath: Very simple; 7 sentences for the 7th

On the commuter rail, Nate answered his cell phone halfway through his “You Draw Me In” ringtone. That was the song which had caused all the trouble—Trevor’s Christian radio hit which was actually about the time Trevor sucked off his boyfriend in a bar bathroom. It was probably in poor taste to use it as Trevor’s ring, given the fact that it was Nate’s fault Trevor’s life had gone sideways over the summer. Outing Trevor during the furor over the song hadn’t been Nate’s best move. Using it as his ringtone was his way of constantly reminding himself not to create drama anywhere but on stage if he wanted to keep his friendships intact. Trevor didn’t know he was using it, seeing as he didn’t call Nate while in his presence. What he wasn’t aware of wouldn’t hurt him.

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!