Category Archives: WIP Snippets

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Notebook and Netbook (c) Dmitri Popov

This month has essentially disappeared on me. I don’t know what happened or where it went. Most of it seems to have been eaten up by my day job and the rest of it consumed by sleep. I suppose. There’s really no other explanation.

What this also means is that I’ve hardly done any writing this month. I’ve done a couple rounds of edits on Sing Sweet Nightingale, but as far as actual writing goes… Maybe a couple thousand words? In the entire month? For me that’s the lowest word count in a month since… Well, since I started really working on the first draft of SSN. I’m not a firm believer in the “You must write every single day” law (I mean, come on. Everyone needs a break). HOWEVER, habits help a lot. Keeping yourself in the habit of writing makes it easier to slip in and out of that strange space in your head where dreamdemons walk right next to the heroine of a contemporary romance while they both watch a mage from a desert island train with a sword. Or is that just my head?

Whatever the case, I have to find that creative space again because I have revisions. Revisions on a fantasy project that will involve a lot of writing. New material and revamping current pages. Shifting interactions and deepening motivations and bringing to light all the strange facets of this world that popped into my head one day.

Want to know more about what I’m working on? Well, Maria from I Believe in Story recently asked me that very question. Visit her blog to see her Behind the Scenes post and get a little bit more about my fantasy, currently titled The Trial. Title totally subject to change, by the way. In fact, I will be SHOCKED if the book is published under that name. SHOCKED I TELL YOU. Because it sucks. But, for now, there’s Maria’s post and this fun little piece from the newly written beginning of the book. 😀

The wind shifts and I freeze, breathing deep. Tachi and I are protected by an outcropping of sandstone, so I don’t have to worry about a predator catching our scent. The chill in the air and the heavy scent of salt and brine is far more treacherous right now. We’re too far inland for the smell of the ocean to be this strong. The sun is too strong for the wind to carry even the slightest bite. It smells like a storm. A strong storm. And it’s the wrong season for a storm.

Shifting my weight and ignoring the sharp rock cutting into my bare feet, I look for a handhold that will get me to the top of this ledge. From that height, I should have a view straight over the plains and out to the ocean. I should be able to see if I’m right.

“What are you doing?” Tachi whispers. When I glance down, his eyes flick toward the south where we are supposed to rendezvous with the rest of our training group. “Sabre, we’ll be put to work in the underground farms if we go off task again.”

“So don’t follow me.”

That’s all for now, lovelies! I’m diving back into the desert with my deadly characters. 😀

Posted this on Tumblr. It’s only fair to repost here.

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Earlier today, I posted this snippet from a YA contemporary I’m currently writing. It’s from a book I really like, but I’m less than 1/4 of the way through a first draft and I still have some pretty big things to figure out plot-wise. Mostly, though, what I love about this book is how my two MCs interact with each other in the beginning. There’s such a great play between their personalities!

The section below is from the first chapter of this book, a book that you’ll hopefully see out in the world one day. If I ever finish it. 😉

Let me know what you think!!

Fire Escapes of New York (c) Gregory Runyan

“You’re not a thief, are you?”

The smile on my lips is impossible to keep away. I glance over my shoulder to find him standing with his hands in his pockets, watching me carefully. “If I was, would I tell you?”

“No,” he says, his lips curving up into a smile. “You’d probably say something just like that.”

I nod and shrug at the same time before turning and continuing to walk away.

“Where you going, Cat?”

This time I turn around completely. “Cat?” And then it clicks and I grin. “As in burglar? Cute.” I laugh and walk a few more steps—backward this time. “I’m going to finish a project.”

“Thought you were escaping.”

I shrug again, an idea taking hold. I slide one hand into my messenger bag and start digging for my camera. “Turns out I didn’t need to.”

He blinks and looks back up at the building as I find my camera and turn it on. “Really? What did you think you were you escaping from?”

“You.” Wiggling my fingers in a girlish approximation of a wave, I pull the camera out of my bag, let the auto-focus take over, click a quick shot, and turn around. Mostly to make sure I’m not about to trip over a curb and fall into traffic. Getting my head crushed by a cab would not be the way to end my day.

“Hey! Wait, wait, wait.” I hear the quick thuds of Converses hitting concrete as he runs to catch up with me. “What do you mean, me? Do I know you?”

He comes up beside me as I turn east toward the subway stop so I shake my head—I still can’t shake my grin. “Nope. Never seen you before in my life.”

“Yet you felt the need to escape from me?” he asks, one black brow disappearing under the brim of his hat. “And why did you take a picture of me?”

“Well, I wasn’t running from you specifically,” I say, quickening my pace and completely ignoring his second question. “Just the person who lived in the bedroom attached to that particular fire escape.”

He’s silent, but only for about two footsteps. “Thanks. That explanation cleared everything right up.”

“People get touchy when you borrow things without asking.”

“So you are a thief?”

“The fire escape is still attached to your building, isn’t it?” He gives me a funny look, but nods. “Then I’m not a thief.”

“You were borrowing the fire escape?” Two more footsteps of silence. “Why?”

“I told you,” I say as I swing into the subway terminal and slide my metro card. “I have a project to finish.”

“What kind of project involves borrowing a fire escape?” he calls through the gate as I walk down the grimy, graffiti covered staircase.

I laugh. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”