#WIPpet Wednesday - The Making Of Us (Not a Girl) #amwriting
WIPpet numbers for 1st March, 2017:
13 (day, month) paragraphs from The Making Of Us (Checking Him Out Book Four)
13 (day, month) paragraphs from The Making Of Us (Checking Him Out Book Four)
WIPpet Context:
So…this is the second snippet from The Making Of Us. You can read the first one here:
This is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series, but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I.
The main characters are Jesse (Noah’s best friend) and Leigh (Noah and Matty’s new housemate). The story is first-person, from Jesse’s perspective.
This is part of the prologue, and it’s hot off the keyboard. WIPpet Wednesday inspired me to get a bit of writing done this evening. :)
* * * * *
We took our drinks to the living room, where Mum resumed her usual seat in the corner of the sofa. I sat in the armchair, aware she’d turned down the TV.
Oh…sugar. What had I done?
“So, who is she?”
“Who’s who?” My face. My face. My super-heated, traitorous face!
Mum turned and studied me, twitchy-mouthed from the smile she fought. “You’re glowing, Jesse.”
Glowing? I was bloody burning up. Seriously, think head like Mars, hurtling towards the Sun as it goes supernova. There was no point even trying to lie my way out of this one, not that I often lied to my mum. She was a cool mum, and we talked about all kinds of stuff all the time. Politics, money, the state of the NHS, my studies, her job, what was going on with my mates or hers… Instant crushes in pizza restaurants, not so much.
“Not a she,” I said.
“OK,” Mum nodded. A frown replaced the smile, still concealed but not judgemental. She was trying to figure it out. She wasn’t the only one.
“Leigh is…” I scratched my chin. Leigh is so gorgeous, I’ve unequivocally proved love at first sight exists. Beyond that? “Not a girl,” I said and shrugged. “I thought Leigh was a girl, but Matty said not.”
“A boy?”
“I don’t think so? Leigh prefers they, not he or she. And…”
“And…?”
And my head was totally done in. I knew what I felt, and it felt good in a shivery, slightly out-of-body way. “I dunno, Mum.”
* * * * *
What is WIPpet Wednesday?WIPpet Wednesday is a blog hop where authors share from their current works in progress - expertly organised/hosted by Emily Witt - and the excerpt has to relate to the date in some way. For links to other fabulous authors' WIPpets, visit: http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=355404
Thanks for reading
Deb x
(((Jesse))) I already like his mother. It's always nice to read about good parent-child relationships. I hope mine are still so open to talking by the time they reach Jesse's age. :)
ReplyDeleteWe keep the door open, don't we? :) I'm so glad mine talk to me (too much, sometimes, LOL). These days, I also get the 'listen to my children screaming please make them stop' Facetime calls.
DeleteSo, yeah. Aside from being fed up with the shunned gay youth trope in fiction, whilst knowing this is still the terrible reality for a lot of young LGBTQIA peeps, I also know so many parents of my/Jesse's mum's age are nothing like that.
Interesting. I want to know more. How does Mum react to this? How does your MC react? What happens to them?
ReplyDeleteVery good Wippet. Thank you for sharing.
Ann
Thanks, Ann. I'll be posting more from this WIP, so hopefully that'll answer those questions. :)
Delete'Seriously, think head like Mars, hurtling towards the Sun as it goes supernova' - I really love this line. And this snippet.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Fallon. :) Finally, I get to write a character with a sense of humour.
DeleteGreat snippet. I really loved the Mars description as he tried to figure out how to explain things. A friend's child recently came out as gender fluid, so I know it can be a bit rough for others to understand sometimes.
ReplyDeleteToo many times we see stories where people "are what they are". Thing is, real people aren't always like that (even those that "are" often have more blurring lines than they believe). It doesn't need to be all about angst and rejection--it can simply be normal teen stuff with confusion, discovery, joy...
ReplyDeleteSounds like a lot of fun
I love this! So great to see this discussion, and inclusion of a non-binary character!
ReplyDelete