Snippet Sunday: Telling Our Friends

Another Snippet Sunday post today, from our manuscript, featuring Gabriel speaking with his friend Rachel, a doctor, about Chloe....

Rachel sat beside Gabriel, holding his hand as he spoke about Chloe, and about her background. “She deserves better then what she’s gotten out of life,” he finally said. “And now she’s dealing with all of this? It’s not fair, Rachel."

  “I know.” He looked at her, seeing the compassion and empathy in her eyes. “This is why I didn’t go into oncology. Too much heartbreak, Gabriel.” She paused, and spoke again. “How did you meet her?”

            He sighed, and smiled. “Online.”

            “Online, huh?” She was smirking.

            “Don’t you start,” he said, laughing.

            “I haven’t said anything.” Rachel laughed. 

Snippet Sunday: The Passage Of Time

Our post today comes from the point of view of one of our supporting characters. George and his wife Cass are friends of Chloe's mother, and after dropping Chloe and Gabriel at the airport, they're on their way back home, and George is thinking...

George glanced over at his wife. She and Linda were like sisters, and for this disease to strike down one of them... Cass was trying to hold herself together, and confronting the impending death of a friend that close... like a sister. He shook his head. The last few days was a painful reminder of mortality. Less days ahead than there are behind, he reminded himself.

George thought for a moment, remembered Chloe’s words in the car earlier. Hoping her father was rotting in hell. Jay certainly deserved that, George thought. Abandoning his wife and child like that. Coward. It was an opinion he’d frequently harboured about the man. His opinion of Gabriel, however, was much better. And he hoped that Chloe could trust herself to see what she had right before her.

Rubbing Shamrocks And Other Misadventures

It is St. Patrick's Day today, and across many lands, partygoers will get hammered with green beer, and wake up in the morning with a stranger in their bed. We thought we would avoid that stranger in the bed scenario and just get straight to the sex. Green cupcakes and some body paint might be involved. And at one point, we might holler Erin Go Bragh in the heat of passion. In the meantime, we leave you with an image blog for the day.

If you happen to wake up with a stranger in the morning, hopefully it's someone reasonably attractive, as opposed to someone who reminds you of your despotic tenth grade English teacher. If it is your tenth grade English teacher, you might want to cut back on the green beer next year.

Snippet Sunday: Unanswered Questions

Something different from our manuscript today. We have Gabriel at the home of Chloe's mother Linda, looking through a photo album.

             Turning the page, he paused, staring at a large photograph. It was a studio photo, a light background, with three people in the picture. A younger Linda, healthy and smiling, Chloe at the age of six, and her father. Jay Masters, he realized, staring at the man in the picture. Chloe got her dark hair from him. By now, if he was still around, he’d be nearly thirty years older.

            Why did you do it? He shook his head. Why did you abandon them? Were you already thinking about it when this picture was taking? There was no sign of it in the face, in the soft smile. If he’d had doubts, if he was restless, there was no obvious indication. Gabriel glanced up from the book, looking towards the stairs, thinking of the two women upstairs, of their abandonment. Damn you for doing that to them, he thought as his eyes returned to the picture of Chloe’s father.

Snippet Sunday: Grandmotherly Advice

Another passage from early on in our manuscript, and this has Gabriel with his grandmother in Ireland, visiting the graves of his parents and grandfather, the two in conversation.

            “I just want you to be happy, Gabriel. You’re a good man, and I’m not just saying that because you’re my grandson. I’m saying it because it’s true. You’ve got a good heart, and that needs to be shared.” She paused, looking around, as if to make sure no one was close by. “Oh, good. We’re off the church grounds. I can say this without blushing. At the very least, you know... you need to get naked every once in awhile with someone you love.”

            “Gran!” he exclaimed in a tone of mock horror.

            “Oh, shush! Your grandfather and I were still....”

            Gabriel clasped his hands to his ears. “I’m not listening! La la la la la!”

            Bridget laughed. “All right, I’ll stop tormenting you. Come on now, lad. Take me to the pub. We’ll have a pint and some of that good meat pie.”