More to the Story

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Happy Easter! Here's another snippet from my YA coming-of-age mystery, Shades of Blue. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) JoJo has just found out that Britney told Russ about Sam trying out for football, but Sam claims she didn't do it out of spite. I warned everyone last week not to jump to conclusions, but some people did anyway. Here's the explanation.

“She had just come in the room and didn’t know he’d already hit me. I don’t think she would’ve said anything if she’d known how mad he would get about it.”

“Oh, I just bet,” I said, my fists squeezed so tight that my fingernails were cutting into my palms.

“No, really,” he said, “because when he grabbed me by the throat, she started yelling at him to stop. And she hit him over the head with a lamp when he wouldn’t let me go, then she told me to get out of the house until he sobered up.”

“Oh my God.” I didn’t know if I was more shocked because Russ had tried to choke Sam or because Britney had actually done something decent. I rose to my knees and put my arms around Sam’s neck. “I’m so glad you got out of there, and you can’t go back.”

If only it were that simple. More next week, or you could always go buy your own copy of Shades of Blue here. ;-) Please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

~Stay true to yourself and your dreams will come true!

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Sins of the Father

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Here's a little more from my YA coming-of-age mystery, Shades of Blue. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) As a lot of people guessed last week, there's more to the story of Sam's real dad than we know so far. I'm skipping ahead a little for this snippet, so I need to set it up. This takes place after Sam shows up at JoJo's bedroom window in the middle of the night and she helps him climb in. He's just told her that his mom and step-dad were both drinking heavily all night and arguing. While Sam was trying to help his mom to her bedroom, she accidentally called him Keith, his real dad's name.

I knelt on the floor beside his legs so I could look up at his face and said, “What did Russ do when she called you Keith?”

“He really lost it, JoJo--I’ve never seen him that mad before. He slapped my mom and told her he never wanted to hear that name again, and before I could say or do anything, he backhanded me and said it was my fault she did it.”

“How could it be your fault?”

“He said I’ve been trying to look and act like my dad on purpose because I want to turn my mom against him, and he said next I’d be wanting to go out for football so I could play the big shot quarterback like my old man.”

"You didn’t tell him you were trying out, did you?”

He looked at me and shook his head. “No, but Britney did.”

Now, don't jump to too many conclusions. More next week. Or you could always go buy your own copy of Shades of Blue here and find out. ;-) Please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

~Stay true to yourself and your dreams will come true!

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Where is Ancestry.com When You Need It?

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

I'm continuing for a few more weeks with my YA coming-of-age mystery, Shades of Blue. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) As promised last week, here's a scene where JoJo and Sam are talking about his real dad who left when Sam was a toddler.

Photo by Torsten Bolten, AFpix.de, via Wikimedia Commons

“My mom didn’t seem like she’d been drinking as much as usual when I went to tell her goodnight, and she kept saying how much I was starting to look like him, then she got out her yearbook so I could see for myself. It said under his picture that not only was he quarterback for Pine Grove, he was a High School All-American signed by Florida State.”

“Do you really look like him?” I asked.

“Yeah, except he’s a lot bigger. He’s got blond hair like me, and our chins are the same shape. You know, that was the first time I ever saw a picture of him, and he didn’t look like a guy who would run off and desert his wife and kid. He looked like he’d be kinda nice, and you should see how pretty my mom was in high school.”

I’d always wondered if there was more to the story about Sam’s dad than we knew, but unless he suddenly decided to come back someday, I didn’t see how we’d ever find out the truth.

I'm guessing they do find out more about him, what about you? Of course, you could always go buy your own copy of Shades of Blue here and find out. ;-) Please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

~Stay true to yourself and your dreams will come true!

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The Real (Painful) Thing

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Here's another snippet from my YA coming-of-age mystery, Shades of Blue. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) Last week Sam and JoJo shared their first kiss, and it was everything and more that JoJo hoped it would be. This scene skips ahead to the next day after school.

We talked about the usual school stuff the rest of the way to the Minit Mart, and we were still holding hands when we stopped to get a Coke. I didn’t see Chip and his two stupid friends behind the comic book rack until it was too late.

“Look, guys,” Chip said as they walked toward us, “Sam finally got up the nerve to hold her hand, and it only took him ten years to do it."

Freddy and Danny yukked it up like the total morons they were, and the three of them walked toward us.

“Just think, Sammy-boy,” Chip went on. “Only five more years and you’ll be feeling her up like I did yesterday.”

Before Sam could say a word or do anything to stop me, I grabbed a can of Coke from the tub of ice by the counter and chunked it at Chip’s head. It bounced off the cowlick at his crown and landed in the middle of a loaf of Wonder Bread on a rack nearby. He stumbled backward into Freddy, and they fell against the comic book rack and knocked it over.

“How did that feel, Chip,” I said, “because it felt pretty damn good to me!”

Glad to see everything that happened didn't make JoJo lose her mojo, huh? Next week we'll find out a little about Sam's real dad who left when he was a toddler. Or you could always go buy your own copy of Shades of Blue here. ;-) Please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

~Stay true to yourself and your dreams will come true!

See all my books at my Web site
Follow me on Twitter
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