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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 Young and the Hormonal Revisited

Welcome back to Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Since this week was so crazy, I'm repurposing a photo and title I used last year when I was sharing snippets of Shades of Blue while it was still a WIP. This will be one of the last snippets before things get very real and you'll see that this book definitely ain't no Sweet Valley High.

The following Monday, Sam and I didn’t talk at all in the car while Daddy drove us to school, and Sam walked away without saying a word when we got there. I reminded myself of my decision to give him some time and resisted the urge to call him a rude butthead. Remarkable restraint, in my opinion.

We ignored each other all morning, but when I saw him at lunch, sitting at a different table from our regular one, I decided his time was up and he was gonna talk to me whether he wanted to or not. I started toward him but stopped after three steps because Melissa Caton and Cindy Rester sat down on either side of him in a gush-and-giggle duet.

I was glad to see that at least Sam still blushed the way he'd always done when confronted with any girl who wasn't me. When he looked up and met my gaze, I thought for sure he’d send me a silent message to rescue him and we’d be back to normal again, but all he did was look away and nod in response to something Melissa said. She and Cindy giggled some more, then I heard one of them say something about Sam playing quarterback. I turned to walk away in disgust and collided with Chip Wiley’s smirking face.

Remember Chip? He's the one who broke JoJo's bathing suit top at the creek and got punched by Sam for it. Tune in next week to see how he makes things a lot worse.

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

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