Notes from Boston

Happy Wednesday! It’s been weird here already, even though it’s still early. I woke with a horrible migraine and consequently tripped on the stairs coming down. Good thing I landed on my butt and only got a small bruise as a reward.

The rest of this week has been odd too. My poor kids had their school lock-in canceled for the storm we never got. But at least we got to go see a friend in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It’s neat taking the kids to see live theater now that they’ve been on stage—they both talked afterward about knowing how much goes into a production, even for a community theater. I’d forgotten how bizarre that show is, though. My younger child’s best quote: “This is so dated it’s timeless. I should hate it…I want to hate it…but I don’t!”

On to the WIPpet, still from Minuet and following directly from last week’s. Context: Jamie’s a bit of a mess, Mack and Amelia are about to take the commuter train back home, and Mack gets a text that doesn’t bode well. Content note for swearing. I didn’t feel that Mack would filter his language here, so I didn’t do it for him.

WIPmath: 1/17/2018 = 17 sentences

She didn’t mean that he’d wake up and see their friends, though that was probably true too. Jamie clung hard to Sage, even now, buying into his lies about who really cared about him. At some point, Jamie was going to have to learn how to be his whole, real self. Mack just wasn’t going to be the one to tell him that.

An incoming text startled Mack, and he took out his phone. Their friend Marlie. Jamie knows where you went.

“Fuck,” Mack muttered.

Amelia’s mouth dropped open, and she grabbed Mack’s arm. “Is Jamie—”

“He’s fine.” Mack stuffed his phone back in his pocket without answering the text. “That was Marlie. Someone, maybe her, told him what we were doing.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Right. He’s bound to be pissed as hell, if he’s in any shape to react.”

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! I’m not at my best today. I had some dental work done yesterday (nothing major), but I’m still feeling a bit sore. Anything like that usually makes my fibro worse, so I’m having a low-key day while I recover.

I haven’t written much since last week. I did a bit of housekeeping, digging around in some old files. I also added a couple scenes to Minuet. I could write a whole blog post about this, but I realized that a big part of my lack of motivation is that I never envisioned being a career writer. I like writing (and getting paid to do it). But it’s not something I want to do as a means of paying the bills.

Anyway, despite that, I still do like working on my various projects. So here’s my snippet for the week, still from Minuet. We left Mack and Amelia sitting in South Station, waiting for the commuter train. Mack had some angry thoughts about Sage (and himself).

WIPmath: 1/10/2018 = 18 – (2 + 0) = 16 sentences

Amelia tapped Mack’s wrist. “You’re thinking too hard.”

Mack let her take his hand, but he looked away, staring at the long line at the McDonald’s counter. He wasn’t angry with her for trying so hard or for how much she’d once cared about Sage. She’d known him longer than either of them knew Mack. She hadn’t even questioned Mack when he’d called her to say he’d taken the day off and needed her to accompany him. He couldn’t ask her to do any more than she already had.

So he lied about what was on his mind. “I’m wondering if Jamie will be awake when we get back, that’s all.”

“You’re worried about him.” She gently turned Mack’s head so he was looking at her. How did she know him so well? “He will be okay. He’s with the others. I meant what I said. He’ll eventually realize he’s not alone anymore.”

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 first Wednesday of the new year! It sure is quiet around my house, with everyone back to work and school. I’m back to it as well, already going through a couple editing jobs and continuing with my various manuscripts.

I have three projects for this year and no idea which will be done first. Minuet is going well; the writing is much smoother than it was for Drumbeat. I’m researching stuff for Tree of Life. I have some upcoming news on that one, but for now it’s Top Secret. Stay tuned! And I have an old NaNoWriMo project I need to get into better shape.

Today, I’m still in Minuet, since it’s the one with the most written in it. Mack and Amelia have left Sage’s apartment and are on their way back to Mack’s. (The above picture is indeed a sage plant.)

WIPmath: 1/3/2018 = 3 paragraphs

They’d taken the T to Sage’s apartment, and the next train didn’t leave for nearly an hour. That gave Mack and Amelia time to sit in South Station with a couple cups of decaf in front of them. Mack didn’t touch his; he was still too worked up from their confrontation with Sage.

He would’ve like to say he didn’t see it coming, couldn’t have predicted it, didn’t know Sage was capable. Except he had known. Sage had been obsessed with Jamie from day one.

Mack warned him off, but Sage ignored that advice and latched onto Jamie, even after they all knew the truth about his past. It was Sage’s personal mission to get his attention. When he wanted to, Sage could turn the charm up to a hundred. Took two more years before Jamie finally cracked. Two years in which Mack wished he’d been able to somehow convince Jamie not to do it.

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! I’m officially on vacation this week, mostly spending time with my family, Netflix, and some new books. My son has been trying to get me to play Minecraft with him for years, and I finally caved. I’m terrible at it (got eaten by a zombie yesterday), but it’s fun. I felt less bad about being eaten after my kid set the woodland mansion on fire. (Any of you who play or whose kids play will know what that means. I only barely do!)

I’m not writing much this week. I finished cleaning up my manuscript for Drumbeat, and I’ll be sending it back to my publisher by Friday after I’ve gone over it one last time. I never got around to writing a Christmas story this year, and I’m a bit bummed about that. The truth is, it’s been hard to find a lot of motivation lately, though I won’t bore you with the details.

On to this week’s WIPpet. This is the last bit of the first scene in Minuet. Amelia and Jamie finally collaborated to clue me in about what Sage’s big secret is that Amelia knows. When she’s finally able to come clean with it, Sage will have to face facts, and Jamie will finally be free of him for good. But I’m not telling just yet.

(The picture at the top of this post is pretty much how Mack looks in my head. Mack dyes his hair black, and his tats are different, but it’s pretty close.)

WIPmath: None, as this is the last WIPpet of 2017 and the last snippet of this scene as well.

She’d held onto hope that Sage might change or get help or something, but what he’d done to Jamie made it clear it would never happen. Tonight might have been the first time she realized what Mack had known for years.

“Why?” she asked. “Why did Jamie put up with him for so long?” She looked up at Mack, and now her hurt and anger showed. “Why did we?”

“We did it for Jamie’s sake.”

He pulled her close again. There was no guarantee Sage would leave Jamie alone, but Mack suspected he wasn’t going to keep trying now that Mr. Muscles was about to discover all his carefully constructed lies.

“Come on,” Mack murmured. “That was intense. We should check on Jamie and then maybe go over to yours for a while, hm?”

“Yeah.” Amelia wiped her eyes. “I’d like that.”

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 getting down to the last bit before vacation. I’m taking some time away from working to enjoy the holiday with my family. It’s surprisingly relaxed this week, despite having spent two days baking cookies. My older kid already had his winter concert, and my younger one has hers tomorrow. Tonight, we’re rehearsing for the Christmas Eve service.

I’m still snipping from the beginning of Minuet. I’ll be able to stick with this one for a while, as I’m steadily making progress. In this snippet, Mack reveals a crucial bit of history. Amelia says she’s keeping mum about her dirt on Sage until I get to writing in her POV. She drives a hard bargain.

WIPmath: 20 sentences for the 20th.

Outside, they leaned against the building. Amelia was shaking, and Mack reached for her. He felt her heaving breaths as she tried to calm down. Mack was grateful every day that he could count on her. If he’d gone to Sage’s apartment alone, he’d either be unconscious or sitting in the back of a cop car.

“You okay?” he asked.

She pulled back to look at him. “Yeah. You?”

“Fine, now.” He exhaled forcefully. “More than I can say for Jamie.”

“God.” Amelia shook her head. “Sage is the very worst. What the hell happened to him?”

“He’s always been this way. Ever since I’ve known him.”

Amelia bit her lip. Mack regretted saying it. She had a soft spot for him, or she’d had one when they were kids.

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! Today’s picture has nothing to do with my snippet. It’s my daughter’s latest drawing.

It’s been a busy few weeks with all the holiday performances. My concerts last weekend went well, as did my older child’s recital a couple days ago. Both kids have school concerts next week, and they’re both working on music for the Christmas Eve service at church. Here is a link to the video from Monday night’s recital. I’m having a Proud Mom moment.

Today’s snippet is still from Minuet and follows right on from last week. Amelia has just called Mr. Muscles over to have a chat.

WIPmath: 12/13/2017 = (1 + 2) + (1 x 3) = 6 paragraphs

“You,” she said. “Are you his boyfriend, his personal trainer, or just a fuck toy?”

The man’s eyes popped. “Uh…”

“Good answer,” Amelia told him. “Listen, Sage here has kind of a problem with leaving his ex alone. Do us a favor and make sure he does the right thing, hm?”

Mr. Muscles looked sideways at Sage. “O-okay.”

Amelia reached up and patted his cheek. “You seem like a decent guy.” She pulled a paper and pen out of her purse and scrawled something on it. Handing it to Mr. Muscles, she said, “Here. My number, just in case you need some help enforcing the no-contacting-your-ex rule.” She turned back to Sage. “You think long and hard”—she giggled; Mr. Muscles snorted—“about what I said. And stay the hell away from Jamie.”

She whirled around, grabbed Mack’s hand, and yanked. Too startled to do anything else, Mack followed her. He heard the click of the door and angry voices on the other side. With a quick glance back, Amelia took off down the stairs.

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!