I am finally writing again and it feels great! I got through the sticky dinner scene I'd been dreading so I'll use a bit of it for my Sunday Snapshot.
Here's how the Snapshot works: Post the last paragraph or several lines of dialogue that you wrote. It doesn't have to perfect. It doesn't even have to be good. It just has to be yours!
Ginger has just met her online boyfriend Roger for the first time, and his sister shows up unexpectedly during dinner. Roger runs a hotel in Germany and Ginger has arrived with a tour group. His sister is grilling her about her life in New Jersey.
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“You live in New Jersey, isn’t that right? What do you do there?”
“I run a Victorian tea room.” It had seemed glamorous when she started the business a couple of years ago, but saying it now, out loud to Selbrinna, it seemed a bit like playing houses.
“Oh. Well, Americans like that kind of thing I understand. High tea and all that?”
A throbbing started between Ginger’s eyes. “Yes. And what do you do?”
“I’m married to a minister.”
“A minister of a church?”
Selbrinna laughed and the throbbing in Ginger's head intensified. “Oh, no. The Minister of Internal Affairs. I thought Roger would have told you.”
“No, I didn’t.” Roger’s voice was smooth but there was a note of warning in it.
Selbrinna kept her gaze fixed on Ginger. “Apparently there are a lot of things he hasn’t told you, but then running the hotel takes up so much of his time that he has very little left for socializing. Do enjoy your stay.” She drained her glass and got up, leaving her plate untouched, and kissed Roger again. “I’ll speak with you when you’re done here.”
His eyes flashed. “We’re going swimming.”
“Well, when you’re done swimming then. It was lovely to meet you, Ginger.”
Good lord, she said it like she was referring to a dog. Here, Ginger. “It was lovely to meet you, too.”
cool. let me dredge something up.
ReplyDelete:) I can't wait. From the sequel, Michelle?
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, this is like my fifth or sixth scenario for Ginger. She is the character that I never get tired of writing.
my contribution. to explain, Kieran has told his 6 year old daughter Lydia that she can't attend Liberty Day (a celebration of Kieran saving Teleria in the past). She's not happy about it because she loves to see the entertainers. He's trying to soften the blow.
ReplyDelete“What if I send the magicians to you?” he asked, his face softening.
“It wouldn’t be the same.”
“It will have to do.”
Lydia’s mouth twisted back and forth. “Can you send the jugglers too? And the acrobats and the fire eaters?”
Kieran smiled. “Yes, the jugglers and acrobats. But not the fire eaters.” He ruffled her head. “We don’t want to burn down the keep.”
Lydia put her arms around Kieran’s neck and laughed. He swung her around a few times, laughing with her. When he put her down, he kissed her cheek and ruffled her hair again. “Be good for Gramma Tee today. And stay in the nursery.”
“I will, Papa. I promise.”
He glanced at Tiana. She nodded.
“I won’t let her out of my sight, Kieran.”
A Victorian tea room, eh? Interesting!
ReplyDeleteI like your "snapshot" idea. Here are a few lines from the sequel to my futuristic thriller, Fireseed One that I'm working on:
It’s only been a few years since these dragon lizards peered out from the caves. “A sign from Fireseed that the desert is slowly coming alive again,” pronounce the elders.
Everything is a supposed sign from Fireseed.
For me, yellow dragons are for one thing—sleep.
Catherine Stine’s Idea City
Hi, Catherine! I love your excerpt. Dragons always grab my interest.
ReplyDeleteMichelle, I love seeing Kieran as a dad.
Christine, it's been interesting and fun to write him as one.
ReplyDelete