Snippet Sunday: Bad Manners

Another passage from Same Time Tomorrow today, from the first chapter, with Chloe having an off day...

She opened her umbrella as she stepped through the revolving door...and the wind promptly turned it inside out. "Crap!" she shouted, struggling to fix it. She stepped forward as a cab pulled up to the curb. She reached it at the same moment as a sixtyish man resembling a toad who made it clear he wasn‘t giving it up without a fight.

"Didn't your mother teach you any manners?" she yelled as he pushed past her and got into the cab. "Whatever happened to ladies first?"

"Hey, you women wanted equal rights, so you got no business complaining." The toad muttered something to the driver and the cab pulled away.

Chloe headed for the bus stop, muttering expletives under her breath. If she'd had a rock handy, she would have thrown it. It was on days like this she really missed life in the flyover....

Snippet Sunday: A Married Rascal

Another passage from Same Time Tomorrow. This is set in the midst of the story in the Lake District in England, where Gabriel is on a photo assignment with a colleague, whose wife has joined them for a couple of days.

             Helen came forward, and hugged Gabriel. She was Terry’s age, just a bit of grey in her chestnut brown hair, her green eyes light and carefree. Unlike her usual academic businesslike attire, she was dressed casually, much like her husband. “Hello, Gabriel,” she said with a warm smile.

            “You’re still married to this rascal?”
            “Yes, well, I’m rather fond of him.”

            “Told you, didn’t I?” Terry remarked.

            “I just got down myself. Shall we eat?” Gabriel suggested.

            “Just as long as you don’t keep calling me a rascal,” Terry declared.
            Helen laughed and patted his arm. “Oh, but darling, you are a rascal.”

Snippet Sunday: Fainting Fathers

Our Snippet Sunday today comes from early on in Same Time Tomorrow, early in the narrative, with Gabriel seeing Olivia back to her place, where her fiancee Rachel is at home, having had been at the hospital where she works delivering babies into the world...

            “Oh, that’s fine,” Olivia assured her, the two women pulling out of their embrace. “Gabriel and I had fun. It ended a bit earlier than we expected. What about you? Any problems with the baby?”

            “No, the delivery went fine. Six pounds, three ounces. Perfect baby girl. The baby and the mother are doing fine. The father nearly fainted in the delivery room, mind you, but all came through well. Gabriel, it’s good to see you. How was Norway?”

            “Cold,” Gabriel replied with a warm smile. “I’ll be heading off, you two….”

            “That’ll give Rachel a chance to get me out of this dress,” Olivia said.

            Rachel laughed. “Olivia, you’re outrageous, you know that?”

            “Yes. You are going to get me out of this dress, aren’t you?”

Snippet Sunday: Risking Your Neck

Another short segment from our joint work Same Time Tomorrow, taken from early in the book, shortly after the passage we posted last week. This features Gabriel and Olivia at the same party where Chloe and Dana are present.

            He was more or less comfortable now.  Olivia had him with her, chatting with two editors from Putnam. Both women had seen his last photo essay for the Geographic, and both were highly appreciative of his work. “So how did you get that final shot in the issue?” Megan was asking him.

            Gabriel smiled, knowing what kind of reaction he’d get, and relishing it.  “Hanging out of a helicopter a thousand feet over the canyon floor,” he replied honestly.

            Olivia clicked her tongue in mock dismay. “Gabriel, risking your neck is one of those things I don’t really need to hear.” She said it with a smirk and a wink.

            Heather laughed at that. “Any other way to tease her?”

            “I wasn’t sure about the safety strap,” Gabriel replied.