Lower Education

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  The sun is shining, which is a rare treat this time of year where I live.  Not that it’s warm, mind you, but at least there’s a glimmer of hope.

I’m continuing to post bits of my completed novel because it’s now in its second round of beta reading and because I’m in a complete and total writing funk.  I’ve started four projects in the last week, and none of them have the right feel.  I’m sure there’s something underlying my inability to write anything better than “It was a dark and stormy night,” but heaven only knows what it is.  I’m consoling myself by taking a break and reading instead.

This week’s snippet is far shorter than last week’s, but it hardly matters (you’ll see why).  I thought I’d give you a little treat for patiently reading the rest of what I’ve posted over the weeks.  My math was simple: 2 x 26 = 52, so 52 words.

The context is that Phin has decided he needs to confess to someone what he’s really doing at the school, so he asks Alex to go somewhere with him to discuss it.  They get a little (ahem, a lot) distracted after their conversation.

All Phin cared about now was being two inches from Alex and how he wanted nothing more than to make up for all the time they’d spent apart. He reached out and rested his hand on Alex’s neck. When he received confirmation in Alex’s eyes, Phin closed the gap and kissed him.

Awww.  Now, how many different ways can Phin find to screw this up?  Mwahahaha!

Thanks to K.L. Schwengel for hosting.  Join in the fun by posting your link here.  Happy writing!

Happy Wednesday!  It’s been a productive week.  I wrote some stuff for an anonymous community I belong to, and the response was pretty overwhelmingly positive. (I’m not sharing it here; like I said, anonymous.  The whole point is to write free without people knowing who you are/having preconceived ideas.)  I’m always a little surprised when I get positive feedback because I am so critical of my own work.  I can go back through it and find dozens of little things I think I ought to fix.  Until I started writing seriously, I never considered myself a perfectionist.  Yeah.

I’m sticking with this novel for now, even thought it’s done with Beta Round 1, because my awesome betas suggested adding an entire scene in the last chapter.  Thankfully, I have my own “educational consultant” (aka, my husband).  He gave me an idea for a terrific plot twist.

Today’s WIPpet math is: 19 +14 x 2 = 66 sentences.  You get a nice, long section.  One of my betas said Dani is her favorite character.  Hopefully, this gives a bit of insight into who she is.

Vic said, “It’s an option for ‘failing’ schools. They don’t have to worry about the Department of Education breathing down their necks, so they can teach however the hell they want, and it makes money for them and all their investors. It’s a done deal, Dani. Phin told me everything when he showed up. He’s supposed to give the impression that he’s creating a ‘school improvement plan’”—he made air quotes—“but he’s really scoping things out to give the go-ahead on the charter.”

That confirmed Dani’s suspicion that there was a connection between NYSED and EduText, though she still couldn’t quite see how the pieces fit together. “I see.” Dani crossed her arms. “That doesn’t explain why you never told me what you knew.”

Vic looked up at her, his expression pleading. “He asked for my help.”

She stepped back a pace, feeling as though she’d been punched. “You agreed.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“You know as well as I do that the school is in trouble. The state’s going to do something no matter what. By giving him what he wanted, I thought I could keep you out of it. All I told him was that you knew everything about the school because of your job.”

“You actually sent him to me to work me over like you just said he does with all his clients?” She gaped at him.

“No! I made him promise he’d leave you alone. He wanted to use you to get information on some of the staff. He told me he’d find someone else.”

“And I handed her to him on a silver platter. What if he’d used Gia like that? You know what she’s like. And Alex is already fighting his own feelings for him—I can see it whenever they’re within twenty feet of each other. You didn’t think to say something to me?”

“I didn’t say anything because I didn’t think it would matter to you what I did.”

“You chose a liar with a dubious history over me.” She closed her eyes. “Over us.”

“Us?” He gestured between them. “There’s no us, Dani. You’ve made that clear. We never made a commitment to each other. For more than a year, you’ve been using me. I wanted him to get in, do his job, and get out so that I could move on. You think you’re the only one who’s been tired of waiting? I’m sick of waiting for you to figure your shit out and decide what you want.”

“What I want? Like you’re just an innocent bystander, right? I don’t recall you objecting to anything we’ve done. And now you’re ready to just move on?”

He sighed. “Yes. I can’t do this anymore. God knows, I’ve tried. I practically helped you raise Jake when his daddy died, but you keep shutting me out. I’m not your security blanket. You gotta move on, or I’ll do it without you. I’m not asking you to forget Jim, but I sure as hell can’t just be someone to keep you warm at night.” He snorted. “As if you’re even letting me that far in.”

“So, you thought if you helped Phin destroy the school, that would—what? Force me to choose you?” She glared at him. “You know you’ve lost that chance now, don’t you?” She stalked to the doorway. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Vic rising from his seat and reaching out his hand to her.

“Dani, wait. That’s not—”

She couldn’t listen anymore. Ignoring him, she continued to the front door and walked out, pulling it shut behind her. She heard Vic call her name once more, and she almost turned around. Instead, she retreated to the safety of her own home, refusing to acknowledge the sound of his voice.

Many thanks to K L Schwengel for hosting.  Don’t forget to read the other entries and add your own.  Happy writing, and I’ll see you next week!

I nearly forgot about this. Good thing it’s still early in the day (not even 9:30am EST).  I’m still posting bits from this novel because I haven’t gotten my last chapter back from my beta readers yet, and there’s a ton of work to do getting this thing whipped into shape once it goes to the second round of readers.  Really, though, I’m just not ready to let it go.  Anyone else find that your characters become like extended family?  We’ve been together for so long that I’m reluctant to end that relationship.

Anyway, today you get 12 lines.  And my math is cool!  Today is the 12th, but if you add all the digits in today’s date, you get…12!  (Hey, I married a math teacher; what do you expect?)

Warnings for swearing.  When he’s not working, Phin’s got a mouth on him.  I think it’s in rebellion against his snooty upbringing.

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“You brought me to a fucking church?”

“You may wish to filter your language a little.” Alex looked sideways at Phin. “This is where I go on Sunday mornings.” He offered no further explanation. He got out of the car and stood next to it.

“You could’ve warned me. What if I were Jewish or something?”

“I know you’re not.”

With a sigh, Phin climbed out of the car. He didn’t want to be rude, but he didn’t want to go in, either. “I’m not really the church type.”

Alex shrugged. “You don’t have to come in.” He started walking.

Another challenge. Phin frowned and said, “No, I’ll go.” He followed Alex toward the building and quickly caught up. “God. I haven’t been to church in—what, fifteen years?”

“I promise, we don’t bite.” Alex tilted his head to the side. “You used to go to church?”

“My parents are Presbyterians, yeah.” Not that it made a goddamn bit of difference in their lives. “You’re Catholic?”

With a chuckle, Alex replied, “You’re joking, right? No. This is a Lutheran church.”

“Ah. Catholic lite.”

Alex swatted his arm. “Jerk.”

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Wonder what Phin will think of his religious experience.  For the record, I do not think Lutherans are “Catholic lite.”  I happen to be Lutheran, and I’ve heard it before.  Repeatedly.  If you’re going to say something stupid to me, be warned it may appear in a future story. *evil grin*

As always, go here to read the other WIPpet entries and add your own!

Happy Wednsday, everyone!  I’m linking up with another great WIPpet.  If you’d like to play along, just click this link or visit our host, K. L. Schwengel.

Speaking of that, I got to do a fun WIPpeteer interview! You can read it here.

In other exciting news, my penultimate (ok! I admit it! I like that word!) chapter is with my beta readers now.  Once I get the last chapter back, I have a few more beta readers lined up for round two, and then I get to decide what to do with it (publish it; duh).  I’m going to admit my complete, massive fear here because I’ve never published a whole book before.  Being able to say (in a very deep voice), “Why, yes, I am a published author” is a real possibility now.  **INSERT MASSIVE FREAK-OUT HERE**

Ahem.  On to my excerpt.  When we last left Phin, he was in the company of Gia on a whirlwind tour of the town.  Just what did those two kids get up to, you may be wondering.  Well, I’m not going to spell it out for you.  Just read the two lines (for the first WIPpet of the 2nd month) of dialogue between Dani and Gia and let your imagination fill in the rest.

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“We came back here and messed around a little while we watched a movie. Oh, my god, Dani, guys my age are so selfish, but he kept asking if I liked what he was doing. Seriously, dudes need lessons from Phin on how to give good—”

“Gia!” Dani squeaked. She felt herself flush. “Stop. Too much information.”

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Sounds like they had a, um, nice time there.  See you all next week!