Snippet Sunday: Uncomfortable Ties

Another passage today from our manuscript, this with Gabriel arriving at a party in New York with his agent and friend Olivia, and feeling like his necktie is strangling him...

They headed inside, finding the crowd already growing. Gabriel resisted the urge to pull at his tie. There are a couple dozen different things I’d much rather be doing right now, he thought, but he knew networking was part of the job. Vistas was the name of the new magazine being launched tonight, and there were always opportunities to freelance assignments. And besides, there were always people from the publishing industry showing up for these things, including his own publishers, so it didn’t hurt to show up, shake some hands, and chat. Just be patient, lad. You can get rid of the tie later on.

Snippet Sunday: Maternal Advice

We have another early passage from our manuscript today, a flashback conversation between Chloe and her mother Linda from the past.

"Don't judge all men by your father, Chloe," her mother told her. "There are good men out there."

"Why did you never remarry, Mom?" Chloe asked.

"It's not easy for a woman with a child," Linda answered honestly. "The man who marries a single mother is getting a package deal. If it's going to work, he has to love the entire package."

"So you never remarried because of me?"

"I never met the right man," Linda said. "Having you made me more careful than I was when I married your father."

"I'm never getting married," Chloe said.

Snippet Sunday: Is Chivalry Really Dead?

Something else today from early on in our text, with Chloe in a rather cynical state of mind...

            In her mind, she could hear her mother’s voice: “It’s bad luck to open an umbrella indoors, honey.”

I’m not tempting fate, Mom. The bad luck’s already arrived.

She hadn’t had time for breakfast, and now her stomach was reminding her it needed nourishment. She took a large chocolate bar from the top drawer of her desk, unwrapped it and took a big bite. She went to the window. The rain was showing no signs of letting up. She thought of that pig who’d taken her cab. Chivalry’s not only dead, it’s entombed in the bowels of the earth, she thought. Even after ten years of life in the so-called concrete jungle, there was a part of her that longed to be the princess, rescued by the gallant prince and carried off to a beautiful, far away kingdom. Not in the cards, Chloe thought, taking another bite.