My very first sale!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay! Now that that bit of excitement is over with - on to the writing!
I think I mentioned last week that the first part of the serial was finished and sent off to beta readers. They came back with good feedback, and edits have been made to the story based on their suggestions. Now I'm just waiting for Friday to roll around so I can buy some stock art and make a cover (Hey, Ma! Look, all those graphic arts classes were good for something after all!) Then I'll toss it all together, format it, and get it published.
And then probably spend the remainder of my life ignoring any reviews on said serial because I am a wimp like that.
Unfortunately, I haven't done any other writing this week, or posted my ROW 80 goals, due to illness. The cold from a couple of weeks came back, either that or I managed to catch some fresh new hell. Either way, the cold brought a friend this time; the cough of doom. My in-laws heard said cough of doom on Friday and promptly sent the husband and I home with a care package full of NyQuil and DayQuil.
Yuck.
However, as much as I might hate both NyQuil and DayQuil, they are doing wonders for the cough. Unfortunately, they are not helping my concentration at all, and I find myself being easily distracted and wanting to sleep most of the day away.
While I was out of it, a new Round of 80 Words began. My goals for this round is the same as usual with one or two additions:
- Write 1,000 words a day
- Keep plugging away at TUO
- Write the next part of the serial
- Take over the... wait... wrong to do list...
As per usual, Wednesday also means another WIPpet Wednesday post!
I'm glad everyone enjoyed Maya's introduction last week! This week I'm bringing you 9 more paragraphs from her prologue since today's date is 10/9/13. This bit follows shortly after the last bit - in fact I think there's only one or two sentences separating them.
“How about this sweetie - once your dad is done out here, we’ll go back to Paris and see the Eiffel Tower.” Her mother put down the guide book she had been flipping through and twisted in her seat to look at her daughter. “Won’t that be nice?”
“Can we go to Euro Disney?” Maya asked. Katie Perkins would be the jealous one if she brought back something from there!
“Um... I don’t think we can afford that...”
Her mother patted his arm, “I’m sure we’ll find a way, Jack. We are your favorite girls after all. You’ll do anything to make sure we’re happy, right?”
There was something in her mother’s tone that made Maya look at her sharply - a brittleness that seemed to sneak into her voice more and more often lately. Her mother was smiling, but it seemed flat, and her father stared at the road ahead with a clenched jaw.
It hadn't always been there - in fact, her parents had been quite loving to each other once upon a time - but ever since her mother had discovered a strange car in the driveway a few months ago, something had changed. Now they argued all the time over little things, though they always waited until Maya was asleep before they began fighting over the big stuff. Maya had lost count of the times that she had woken to accusations of affairs ringing through the house.
“Iris...” He glanced back at Maya’s face in the rear view mirror. He looked away suddenly, sighing. “Fine. We’ll figure it out.”
Even though going to Euro-Disney was better than crawling around a muddy dig site, Maya felt her heart sink. Oh, she wanted to go to Euro-Disney desperately. She had wanted to go ever since she had first heard about it, and had begged her father to take her whenever they were in Europe. However, she didn't want to go if her parents were fighting and her father only agreed to make her mother happy. Still, she forced herself to smile just like her mother was, and pretended that she was excited at the prospect.
“Awesome!” She said and looked back out the window at the countryside passing by.
To read more WIPpet Wednesday posts - head on over here.
To find out more about ROW80 - go thataway.
I like the use of "brittleness " to describe her voice. Very telling. Then the contrast from how they used to be to what they've become.
ReplyDeleteSo much for claims that DayQuil isn't supposed to make your drowsy. That's kinda rotten, but ahead and take over the world, anyway. You'd probably do a better than those currently in charge :D So, I was seeing your Etsy offerings, and it reminded me of the dress I made this summer for a conference that had lacing up the back. Very Renaissance-y. And what a fun project!
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for making your goals and conquering the world this week.
It isn't so much the DayQuil that makes me drowsy as the NyQuil. The grogginess just won't go away until right before bed time, which, of course, is when I have to take some more to sleep. Thankfully I'm over the worst of it now, so I've been able to step away from the NyQuil, and I'm much more coherent as a result.
DeleteThank you for the compliments on my store! That sounds like a lovely dress that you made :)
Ooo... made my skin crawl. You can just feel the tension in the car. Mom's still bitter, Dad's feeling bullied (and possibly aware that he deserves to be bullied), and poor Maya is stuck in "my security is eroding out from under my feet" land. =0(
ReplyDeleteYes. Though the strange car Maya's mom saw isn't what she thinks it is, so she may be bullying the Dad for no reason at all... ;)
Deletetension galore!! That's gotta suck for Maya.
ReplyDeleteHaving been there myself as a kid, I can say it's definitely not fun :P
DeletePoor Maya! (and poor Christina too... I know exactly what you mean about that lingering cough and the DayQuil headfog; you have my sympathies)
ReplyDeleteThere's little harder on a child (especially an only child) than feeling her home breaking apart.
I love seeing a kids POV and what Maya picks up about her parents strained relationship. So telling and so much simmering tension in the car. I really feel for Maya. Hope she gets to go to Euro Disney!
ReplyDeleteLove the tension bubbling underneath this. Must be hard being the kid in a situation like that.
ReplyDelete