One of the reasons
I write is because my mother told me these incredible stories about growing up
during the Great Depression and living through WWII.
I know it wasn’t
as romantic as I want to believe. Times were hard and people were resilient.
I have been trying
to finish this second book and was thinking through the characters when something
came to mind. My book is set in the 1940s, but what if the setting was today? I
mean now, during this
Here is an excerpt
from my book in progress:
The driver’s shout
brought her back to the moment, and Emma made haste to reclaim her seat. It
annoyed her to see that stretched out on the seat in front of her was one of
the young men from the back of the bus, especially since there were so many
empty seats.
He was wearing a
silly grin as a mop of sandy brown hair fell recklessly over his twinkling blue
eyes. He nodded to greet her. Emma almost smiled at his goofy, anxious grin,
but she bit her lip and turned away, pretending to ignore him.
“Can you play that
guitar?” He faced backward over his seat and motioned toward the case.
“As a matter of
fact, I can.” The corners of her mouth turned up slightly before she turned
back to watch the traffic.
Now today’s
version:
It annoyed her to
see that stretched out on the seat in front of her was one of the young men
from the back of the bus, especially since there were so many empty seats. Immediately,
she began searching for one with more distance from the rude stranger. At least
he is wearing his mask, she thought.
A mop of sandy
brown hair fell recklessly over his twinkling blue eyes, but his mask covered
his mouth, so she was not sure if the twinkle was from friendliness or if he
had ill intent on his mind. He nodded to greet her.
Emma took her seat
and turned away, calculating in her mind if his germs would reach her and
wishing he would go away.
He faced backward
over his seat and mumbled something inaudible as he pointed to her guitar case.
Was he here to steal her guitar or did he want something else?
“I’m sorry. I
can’t understand what you are saying. Speak up.”
There are so many
things in our life I have taken for granted. Things like a tender embrace,
Sunday visits, shopping, and facial clues. The thing I miss most, though, is
seeing people smile.
I am really hoping
when this is all said and done; we have not forgotten how to smile.
I would love to
see an excerpt from one of your books- In today’s setting! Show me your stuff!
Therein lies the reason many of us are ignoring the pandemic in writing--that and needing a place withOUT it. As for the smiling, as long as we can see their eyes, I'm good.
ReplyDeleteI actually listened to a story early on- that was written during the pandemic-I was surprised that someone jumped in on it so quickly. At this point, I am so over it...
DeleteMy current work is a contemporary cozy mystery. I do NOT mention the pandemic because I think people read to escape hearing about it. I do. I look forward to reading Emma's story.
ReplyDeleteI would never seriously write anything related to the pandemic either-it did strike me as odd once I started thinking about the things we write, "smile that didn't reach his eyes" "his lips twitched" "Her mouth turned up on the edges" ... all those facial cues and actions we write to not say smile...I am sure if anyone falls in love in this dark time, there will be some sexy way to write those things- Love finds a way.. I am looking forward to your reading your cozy mystery! ;) I am intrigued!
DeleteI'm ignoring the pandemic, too. I actually wonder how many people would want to read a book where masks had to be mentioned. It's been two long years and I want to enjoy a good story line. Yours sounds like it will be an enjoyable read. Best of luck writing it.
ReplyDelete