Minuet

Happy Wednesday! It’s Pi Day, so I hope you get to enjoy some pie. We had ours for breakfast.

This weekend marked the (early) beginning of performance season. My son is the most heavily involved in the arts, but my daughter and I both have our things as well. Between now and June, we have 7 concerts, 3 recitals, 1 theater gala, and 1 audition. I used to say at least my kids don’t do travel sports. Hahaha! Um.

Anyway, while all that is going on, I’m working through reviewing the print proof for Drumbeat. I’m viewing the document on my Mac while I have Siri read aloud to me from my phone. It’s delightful. I have it set to the male UK voice, and it’s got a bit more inflection than the default female US voice. It’s also somewhat gentle and refined. It makes me blush and feel guilty having “him” read all the swears and the sex. The way “he” says certain words is…interesting.

On to the WIPpet. This follows right after last week’s, where Nate called out Mack and Trevor for being big babies. Edited slightly to remove spoilers. Also, swearing. Feel free to have male UK Siri read that bit to you.

WIPmath: 3/14/2018 = 3 + 14 = 17 sentences.

“What?” Trevor snapped. Mack would’ve agreed with him, except he was too irritated, both that Nate had figured it out and that he and Trevor had a temporary common enemy.

“Look,” Nate said. “Every last one of us knew [what happened with] Jamie.” He poked Trevor in the chest. “And you.” He flicked Mack’s arm. “You’re acting the same way my brother did the first time I introduced him to Izzy. I thought he was going to take him out back and interrogate him using secret government tactics.”

Mack glared at him. “What would you know about anything?”

“Ooh, look who’s gone all defensive. Must’ve hit a nerve there. Can we just put this aside and have a good time? I want to see Cian dance and then make sure he’s doing all right. That would be a hell of a lot easier if the two of you chilled the fuck out.”

Trevor had the good sense to look defeated, so Mack gave in as well.

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 Wrayburn for giving us this space. Happy reading and writing!

Happy Wednesday! Things have mostly settled back into our “new normal” at this point. The schedule is a lot less tight, and we’re all more relaxed. This weekend, my older child is performing with a county-wide mixed chorus. Should be fun to go see him and the other kids from his school.

Writing in Minuet has slowed down due to being so busy and having to catch up with work. But overall it’s going well. Random plot bunnies and new ideas have to stop, though! I’m also going over the print proof for Drumbeat, which is scheduled to be out in September. I’m much happier with the slower pace of releases. It gives me time to think about what projects I’m invested in and what I want to do with each one.

On to the WIPpet. This follows on directly from last week’s. Mack and the guys are out at Grand Slam, a sports-and-entertainment inclusive LGBTQ bar. They’re missing Jamie, who is away due to [spoilers].

WIPmath: 3/7/2018 = 3 x 7 = 21 sentences

“We might as well say it,” Nate told them.

“Yeah,” Trevor agreed. “It’s not the same without Jay.”

Mack gritted his teeth. He hated that Trevor used the pet name; it annoyed him every damn time. He said nothing about it, internally repeating that it was not his issue. If Jamie didn’t like it, he could tell Trevor so himself.

“He’ll be back soon.” Mack intended to come off as soothing or something, but instead even he heard how curt he sounded.

Trevor eyed him. “Well, you would know, I guess.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” Trevor’s shoulders slumped. “We’re all on edge. Maybe we should, you know, just cool it.”

Nate looked back and forth between them and then burst out laughing. “Oh, shit. The two of you are horrible. Seriously? Are you gonna keep fighting over Jamie like a pair of toddlers, or do you think you could act like grown-ass men for seven minutes?”

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 Wrayburn for giving us this space. Happy reading and writing!

Happy Wednesday! We’re back to a much quieter schedule now that the school musical is over. Older Child still has a few things he’s doing in the next few weeks, but they won’t take up nearly so much time.

I’m plugging away at edits on Drumbeat, but I did manage to write a bit in Minuet as well. It’s been a bit of a challenge, since I have to move this novel’s story along as well as wrapping up the two ongoing plot strands from the previous novels.

Technically, Minuet is the last part of the series. But I’ve been toying with writing within this world but using different characters in completely standalone novels. These can be read alone, but they’re best as part of the series. I’m working on ways to incorporate the worlds I’ve previously created into new novels/series.

Anyway, on to the WIPpet. The context is that Jamie is…somewhere else at the moment, for reasons I won’t spoil. Mack and Company are missing him, so they’ve gone out to watch Cian dance. You can picture the bar, Grand Slam, as an oddball mix of sports bar, gay nightclub, and entertainment venue. This bit is edited for length and to eliminate the recap of the previous novel as well as remove spoilers.

WIPmath: 2/28/2018 = 2 x 8 = 16 sentences

Mack sipped his water and let the buzz of conversation in Grand Slam wash over him. Nate and Trevor had talked him into coming, just the three of them, and Mack knew why. They all missed Jamie.

Mack glanced at Trevor, who was trying to look relaxed but obviously wasn’t. He kept tapping his fingers on the table until Nate swatted him. Mack choked back a laugh. They were nearly as bad as Mack and Jamie, although with the added bonus that they really had sort of been into each other at some point. Mack wasn’t entirely clear on their exact history. He thought he should ask one of these days, given whatever happened between Trevor and Jamie. No way was Mack going to let anyone yank Jamie around again.

He huffed. Not his job. Jamie had already accused him once of treating him like a baby, and Mack wasn’t in a hurry to have that conversation a second time. And there he was, full circle, back to dwelling on how much he missed having Jamie around. Mack folded his arms and turned away from the others to cover for himself.

When Nate squeezed his shoulder, Mack knew he was out of luck on hiding anything.

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 Wrayburn for giving us this space. Happy reading and writing!

Happy Wednesday! We’re deep into tech week for BIG FISH. Everything is looking fantastic so far. Just two days until opening night!

Other than that, it’s life as usual. I’m plugging away at the copyedits for Drumbeat. I’ve also been able to get more than expected written in Minuet. It’s been a perfect storm of a regular writing sprints group and now beta reading, which always inspires me to write more for some reason. The story is shaping up nicely, which is a pleasant change from struggling through writing Drumbeat.

On to the WIPpet. This snippet follows more or less from last week’s. I’ve edited it a bit for length and clarity. It’s just a shade racy, but nothing graphic.

WIPmath:2/21/2018 = 2 x (2 + 1) = 6 paragraphs.

Mack collapsed onto his back. His limbs were still quivering. Once he’d recovered, he would take pleasure in bringing Amelia to the same heights. For the moment, he needed to breathe. As she always did on these occasions, she draped herself over him and ran her hands along his sweaty skin, following them with her lips.

Mack loved that she never hesitated to show him what she liked. He’d met women who enjoyed sex as much as he did, but none besides Amelia who took such delight and fascination in the glorious mess of it all.

The thought amused him, and he chuckled. When he opened his eyes, Amelia was smiling down at him. There was something Mack found poetic about celebrating their reconnection.

“I want to write a new song,” he blurted.

Amelia’s laughter was like water for his soul. “About how much you like being fucked by me?”

Mack touched her hair, her cheek, her neck. “Yeah.”

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 Wrayburn for giving us this space. Happy reading and writing!