Rainbow Snippets

Busy week! Finished up final proof on a novella and final draft on a novel. I’m nearly done with my paid editing gig (so if anyone is looking for an editor…).

I’m continuing with Anthem this week. For a bit of my current WIP, you can check out WIPpet Wednesday (and feel free to jump in on that, too—it’s a great blog hop with a variety of genres). This is a continuation of last week’s snippet. It’s a tad over 6 sentences, but it didn’t really make sense to cut it short. If you read last week’s, you know Nate and Trevor are talking first times. Nate doesn’t exactly have romantic notions about his.

“Wait, I never told you the story?” Nate leaned back and stretched out his long legs. “Okay, well, we’d been working up to it for a while, but that day, we were down there and out of the blue, he goes, ‘You wanna?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, whatever, but what about your mom?’”

“What did he say?”

“He says, ‘When Pop and his friends are watching the game, they make these sounds like they’re screwing. So we put on the game and turn it up, and if Ma hears us, she’ll just think it’s that.’”

“Oh, my god. You believed him?” Trevor gaped at him and burst out laughing.

“Well, yeah. I mean, horny seventeen-year-old, right?”

Rainbow Snippets is a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQIA+ authors, readers, and bloggers to share 6 sentences each week from a work of fiction—published or in-progress—or a book recommendation. Feel free to join in!

I had so much fun hanging out with the other Rainbowers last week that I thought I’d do it all over again. Since I already shared my current work-in-edits for WIPpet Wednesday this week, I figured I’d stick with Anthem for now (the shiny newness of book release hasn’t worn off yet).

Last week, I shared a lovely kissy scene. This week, here’s your bit of boys-will-be-boys. Trevor is trying—again—to explain his bisexuality to his gay best friend, Nate, who may be oversharing a bit here in response. I’ve interpreted the 6 sentences as 6 lines of dialog.

Nate put his hand up. “Yeah, you are. I told you before, it wasn’t an experiment for me when we were in high school. I liked you, and I wanted you to like me, too. Then you got with Marlie, and you said you weren’t gay. I was crushed.”

“I’m sorry,” Trevor said. “It’s the truth, though.”

“Yeah, well, I know now. At the time, I thought you were lying. I was miserable for like a year after, but then…” A slow smile spread across his face.

“Rocco Alesi,” they said at the same time.

Trevor laughed. “I remember him. I thought he was hot.”

“You never told me that!” Nate exclaimed. “And he was hot. He was my first full-on, get-naked sex. We fucked in his parents rec room with the Sox game in the background and his mom making lasagna upstairs in the kitchen.”

Book Blurb:

Trevor Davidson has everything going for him. He’s just moved out on his own with three friends, and he’s landed a job as music director at a large Boston church. He has high hopes for marrying his long-term girlfriend and settling into a comfortable, devout lifestyle.

Andre Cole has spent the past few years throwing himself into a dead-end job at a Cape Cod-based call center. When an opportunity to move back to Boston arises, Andre believes it will be the do-over he needs to put his past behind him.

A chance meeting in a club on New Year’s Eve brings Trevor and Andre together for a brief but steamy encounter. Both assuming that’s the end of it, they are unexpectedly thrown back into each other’s lives when Trevor’s church hires Andre for their website design. While Andre is content at first to move on, Trevor’s conflicted feelings bubble over into his songwriting. Before he can stop it, his ode to Andre becomes an inadvertent Christian radio hit.

Unfortunately for Trevor, he isn’t the only one who knows the song’s hidden meaning. Someone has leaked the story and upended Trevor’s life. In order to put the pieces back together, he needs to learn to be honest with his girlfriend, with Andre, and especially with himself.

Rainbow Snippets is a safe and welcoming space for authors, readers, and bloggers to share 6 sentences each week from a work of LGBTQIA+ fiction—published or in-progress—or a book recommendation. Feel free to join in!

I’m trying out something new! Joining up with other authors to post a weekend snippet of our work. You can check out the rest on the Rainbow Snippets Facebook group. Be sure to leave them some love.

In honor of Anthem releasing in just a few days, here’s a little teaser:

He walked Trevor to the door, but before he opened it, Trevor turned around to face him. His lips moved like he wanted to say something, but all he did was stand there. He reached out his hand and put it on Andre’s arm, and Andre felt the slight tension and tremor. Making the decision for both of them, he leaned in. Trevor’s eyes drifted closed, and in the next minute, they were kissing. A bone-deep thrill raced through Andre’s whole body.

Happy almost-Leap Day. Enjoy your weekend!