Sunday, January 23, 2011

A WIP Snippet and More

I've been revising and editing the story I wrote during NaNo after taking a break for the holidays. One thing I did during my break is read some different stories from my normal reads. I went on a cowboy binge, and read 5 or 6 Western Romances, plus I read a few Young Adult books and some contemporary romances. It actually helped me a lot because I found myself thinking a lot about my style of writing. I think I still have a ways to go before I find my true "style" or "voice" but I feel closer to it now.

A Twist of Fate, the WIP I'm working on, has changed a bit from how I first envisioned it. I started out thinking it would be a girl, a good guy and a bad guy. Pretty simple stuff, at first. For one thing, Mac, the character I thought would be the bad guy turned out to be a pretty cool dude. He loves to tease, he's sexy, arrogant, and full of himself. Then a funny thing happened as I was writing his scenes. I realized I liked him. I liked him A LOT. At the time I actually stalled on writing for a few days because of this realization. Then I relaxed and dealt with it. I added another character, and it turned out doing that gave me a twist in the plot which made a MUCH better story. Funny how that worked out.

Here is a snippet with Mac and Maggie which shows you his personality:

Maggie walked into the restaurant, and it only took a minute to find Mac. He was the tall, dark and hot guy surrounded by waitresses. Maggie shook her head and walked towards the crowd.

“Well, Mr. McRory, I see you’ve kept busy while waiting for me this morning. I’m sure the girls were impressed with your mad skills, “ said Maggie with a laugh.

“Why, if it isn’t Miss FitzGerald, making her appearance just a wee bit late, as is fashionable, “ Mac said with a smile. “Ladies, I’m afraid we’ll have to continue our conversation another time, since my companion has decided to grace me with her lovely presence. “

The waitresses looked at her as if she had ripped their fantasy man right out of their arms. They said their goodbyes, and Maggie sat down across from Mac, who looked just as rugged and handsome as he had yesterday. Too bad he was an ass with an ego the size of Ireland.

He looked over at her with a smile that spoke volumes, and none of it was innocent or ordinary. The man definitely needed someone to knock him down a peg or two. Maggie wondered what thoughts were rolling around in that handsome head. On second thought, she probably didn’t want to know.

“So lass, what shall we order for breakfast? I’m starving, and I need food and caffeine to start off my day. Hmmm…pancakes, eggs, sausage, hash browns, biscuits, juice and coffee ought to do it. I wonder if they have homemade jam?”

Maggie stared at him in amazement. “How can you eat all that? Seriously, how can your stomach hold all that food? It looks too flat…I mean…you know…you look so fit. Do you eat like that all the time?”

“So, Miss FitzGerald, you were looking at my flat stomach were you? How nice. Is there anything else you’d like to see while we are discussing bodies? Hmm…maybe it’s my turn…let me see…”

“You are such a pig! Why did I agree to breakfast with you? I should have known someone as good looking and hot as you would have an enormous ego and a one track mind. “

“Oh, so you think I’m hot do you? “

“That’s not what I meant. I give up. You. Are. Such. A. Man. “ said Maggie, and then she started laughing and almost spit out the water she had just taken a sip of.

“I think you like me. Your laugh betrays you, lass. “

“Okay, okay, I give up. Yes, you are easy on the eyes, and you make me laugh. Can we stop with the horn dogging and eat breakfast now?”

“I think we can, now that the formalities are out of the way.” he said.


~Brenda



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