Sunday, May 18, 2014

#WeWriWa Post Sunday May 18 2014-Rendezvous with Destiny Part 1



Wow, has it ever been a crazy spring! I don’t know about you, but I could really use about 6 more hours in each day … or maybe just some better time management methods. Anyway, after several weeks away, I’m finally back in the WeWriWa loop, this time with a brand new YA novella, Rendezvous with Destiny. For a few months now, I’ve had an idea for a pre-WWII story. I’ve had a couple of false starts, but hadn’t had much luck getting it down on paper. Finally, on Tuesday, I decided it was time to sit down and get serious about stringing words together, even though I only have the vaguest idea where it’s going.
So, without further ado, here are the first 8 sentences. I will warn you, this is a very rough first draft so please forgive any mistakes and feel free to make suggestions.

October 18, 1941

The sight of the pretty blonde girl sitting cross-legged on the hood of his battered Ford truck, a novel balanced on her ankles made David grin and jump off the porch, landing on a small pile of fallen leaves which crunched and turned to dust beneath his weight. He felt his mom’s eyes burning a metaphorical hole in the back of his neck while she watched him lope across the yard, but he didn’t care.
“Hey, Rosika,” he yelled. He lifted his arm and drew back his arm, taking just a moment to pick a target point before releasing the football he held. It arced in a perfect spiral, closing the distance between him and Rosika, missing her nose by mere inches before dropping out of sight on the far side of his truck.
David sensed, more than heard, Rosika’s irritated sigh.
“Are you ready to go?”
“I was ready to go ten minutes ago,” Rosika said, “which is the time we agreed to meet.”

Don’t forget to check out the great writers who have also decided to participate in this week’s WeWriWa and Snippet Sunday blog hop. There’s something for everyone.

17 comments:

  1. Uh oh, he's late. Girls hate it when boys are late. I wonder what his excuse is? Nice descriptions of the scene and the characters are engaging.

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  2. Pretty day scene with a hint at their personalities. Good way to introduce us to Rosika and David.

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  3. I've read many times "Get rid of the which" Consider reworking the crunch of dried leaves w/o a which. Also the football arm So cute and graphic. You might have him lift the arm and draw it back instead of arm twice so close together. One more thought since you're right at the beginning. I can't picture her balancing a novel-better a book-on her ankle. Maybe just reading a book. Love the era and possibilities of transition as they age. Thanks, Jess.

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  4. Great to see another #8sunday from you, Jess! You set the scene beautifully, it's a perfectly clear picture in my mind. I like both characters already! Rosika is a pretty name, too.

    What you could do about using "arm" twice is to just drop the mention of lifting his arm; that part's not necessary to understand what he's doing. Sure hope you post more from this :)

    I didn't sign up today, I'm just visiting!

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  5. I love that she's reading while she waits--and the whole exchange between them. Tells us quite a bit about their characters.

    You might want to drop "metaphorical" in the 'burning a hole' reference, though. It's such a standard phrase, people should know it's not an actual hole. Unless you have people with laser eyes later on, it's not necessary.

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  6. I am not able to bring anything new to the above advice...it's all solid! I am liking her already!

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  7. Love the energy and exuberance in this snippet, and the way you already set up their conflicting personalities. Great eight!

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  8. You can already tell so much about these characters and their relationship in the first eight sentences. Well done! One thing I would suggest is to shorten the first sentence, or turn it into two instead. It's very long and tends to take me out of the action instead of bringing me into it.

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  9. Are the hoods of Ford trucks of that era possible to sit on? Good start overall.

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  10. Agree with the above advice, the double arm thing gave me a hick-up while reading. As was said just his arm tossing the ball is enough without the lifting it. Not to worry though being a first draft. I'd go with the flow and let it ride baby!

    Great introduction. We really do see a lot about the two personalities already!

    History Sleuth's Milk Carton Murders

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  11. He would have been in deep doo-doo if he'd hit her on accident. Well, further in it than he already is for being 10 minutes late! Great start.

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  12. Karysa already said it, I said uh-oh about his throwing the ball so close to her. Even without contact I would have been annoyed. You set everything up very well, his antics, Rosika's seriousness (reading while she waits) and the mother's obvious disapproval. Good snipper.

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  13. I don't have anything new to add. I love his response when he sees her and the way she reacts to his throw. Great dynamic.

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  14. Enjoyed the excerpt, could visualize the scene clearly from your description and I thought his throwing the ball so close to her gave us a nice insight into his character. Great 8!

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