Fiction

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!

Happy Wednesday! Sorry I missed last week. It was the kids’ school production of “Barnum.” I’d never seen it, although I’d heard a couple of the songs before. What a fantastic show. The kids did a great job. If we’re friends on FB, you can look at my timeline to see photos.

I finished Keeping the Faith, and it’s been beta-read and edited. It’s officially no longer a WIP, and as soon as I’ve written a blurb, it’ll be off to my publisher. I’m hoping for a November 1 release, same as the previous two books in the series.

This week, I started on a new story, but I don’t have enough written to share yet. In fact, I have several WIPs outlined but not written. I do have quite a bit done on some short stories set in Cat’s world, though. The plan is to wrap those up to self-publish over the summer. That’s what I’m sharing from today.

This story is tentatively called “Blessing Cup.” (For anyone who didn’t know, all the story and chapter titles have religious tone/themes/origins.) In the snippet, we get to see inside LR’s head for a change. In Walking by Faith, I alluded to her having some secrets she hadn’t even shared with Cat. Here, she’s revealing a little of one of them. This takes place roughly eight months after the end of WbF.

WIPmath: No math. New month, new story.

Home at last. A week of nothing outside of a paper to write and a couple of tests to study for. LR breathed a sigh of relief as she closed the front door. Fortunately, no one else seemed to be home, which meant she could temporarily let down her guard.

She dropped her bags by the stairwell and ducked into the bathroom. Inside, she rooted through the medicine cabinet until she located the Tylenol. She eyed a bottle of Cat’s meds, but she had no idea what effect a stronger medication would have on her. He would notice it was missing anyway, even if she thought taking his meds was a good idea in the first place. He counted them religiously.

It was stupid of her to entertain the idea, but her head hurt so much she couldn’t concentrate on a better plan. She took two of the Tylenol and swallowed them with a bit of water from the tap. Then she sat down on the toilet and put her head in her hands, shaking.

Everything was her own fault. If not for a number of things over the past couple of months, she would be on her way to enjoying spring break with her friends. They’d invited her, but not only did she not feel well enough to go, she had something more pressing to take care of. It meant staying home and working out a way to tell either Mom and Dad or Cat, and she wasn’t sure which was worse.

She listed her options. Telling Dad by himself was out, but mostly because it was embarrassing. He was probably the one who would be most helpful, but it made LR feel awkward. Telling Mom was possibly safe enough, but she would take over. Not that she wouldn’t let LR make her own decisions—Mom wasn’t like that. In fact, LR wasn’t sure why she hadn’t called Mom already. She’d shown in every way that she would be there for LR no matter what, the same way she’d been there for Cat.

That was a special case, though. No one expected Cat to be ready to take care of things after what had happened to him. If he fell apart and wouldn’t talk to them for months, it was understandable. It wasn’t his fault. LR had no excuse. Everything she’d done had been of her own free will.

She hauled herself up on shaky legs and went upstairs to lie down. A good nap would hopefully cure her headache, and then maybe she could think more clearly about what to do.

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!