Notes from Boston

Happy Wednesday! I have a house full of teenagers. We took our kids and their friends to see Ready Player One last night. What a fantastic movie, and well worth seeing on the big screen. The book is great too; it’s one of my son’s favorites. He was thrilled to see they were making it into a film.

On to the WIPpet. I’m snipping again from Minuet, even though it’s now a secondary project. I’m working on something to submit for an anthology, and that’s my priority due to the deadline. But I’m also continuing to work here and there on Mack’s story.

Last time, Mack was watching the fiddler from the audience. This time, he’ll be a bit closer.

WIPmath: 4/4/2018 = 4 x 4 = 16 sentences.

Afterward, the chatter began again. The live entertainment was done. Mack wondered if Cian would stick around for long. Bars weren’t the best places for him to have a conversation; even with his hearing aids in, he couldn’t follow along with all the background noise. Neither Mack nor the others knew enough ASL to communicate more than a handful of awkward sentences. Still, Cian would at least stop by. He wasn’t oblivious to the reason they were all there, but he would be gracious about it.

When Cian slid into a chair next to Mack, it startled him. Even more surprising was that he’d brought one of the others with him. The fiddler, Mack realized after a second. He was slim, like Mack, but more muscular rather than skinny. His dark hair was thick and straight, cut so it was shorter in back and a bit longer in front, styled to look nicely androgynous. He’d changed out of what he’d worn on stage, down to a plain blue T-shirt and a pair of well-worn jeans. Somehow, he made them look classy.

Cian interrupted Mack’s intake report. “This is Jomari, my most excellent fiddler.”

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! 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!