Pig Kibble 2/23/14 WeWriWa Snippet

Welcome back for another week of great writing snippets! It's a marvelous experience.

My original plan was to post 8 sentences that follow my last WeWriWa post, which was selected from my YA WIP, Dwarfed, but I stumbled across
this particular snippet while editing the other day and it tickled my sense of humor, so I decided to post it instead. Some creative editing was required before it fit the 8 sentence limit.

Don't forget to visit the blogs of my fellow Sunday snippet and Weekend Writing Warriors participants as they post collections of sentences from their works in progresses and completed manuscripts. Every genre is represented.

If I get in the stall with the piglets, I won’t be trapped, but I also won’t be able to get out very quickly. Luke’s tall enough to jump over the side,  I’m not. I’ll be pig kibble.

I stare at the sow: her floppy ears jiggle and bounce as she leans into Luke’s touch. I swear she’s smiling.

“She's an old pro at this,” Luke says. “She knows humans aren't going to hurt her babies.”

“Will you keep scratching her?” Maybe, if his fingers keep her distracted, she won’t develop an impulsive hatred of redheaded teenagers. 

Funny, it looks like such a short little snippet, but I had to use some creative editing in order to meet the requirements and I still went one sentence over.

A farm-themed snippet from DWARFED 2/2/14 #WeWriWa

The Weekend Writing Warrior and Facebook's Snippet Sunday are blog hops that provide authors with a fantastic opportunity to support one another, promote their books, and just have a good time. Each week authors post 8 sentences from WIPS or published works. It's lots of fun.

This week I pulled a 9 (sorry moderators) snippet from my contemporary manuscript, DWARFED. This collection of sentences picks up where last week's left off. It's a scene that could only take place on farm.

DWARFED is a YA story about Grace, a fictional teen with achondroplasia dwarfisam who currently finds life a little tougher than she ever dreamt possible. 

When you're done here, take some time and read some of the great snippets that other participants have published. You'll be glad you did!

            Luke sits in a farrowing crate, his back braced against the wall, his legs stretched out in front of him. There’s a steel bucket half full of strange-looking, small, pink blobbish things and a plastic container full of hypodermic syringes wedged against his hip, another syringe is stuck between his  teeth.

            His left hand snakes out, snagging one of the piglets. He ignores its ear splitting squeal and pins it between his elbow and rib cage. With one hand he swaps a patch of skin with what looks like a cotton swapped that has been stained with some sort of reddish brown substance, I’m guessing iodine. His right hand pulls the syringe out of his mouth, and in one smooth movement, pokes the needle into the piglet and depresses the plunger. He tosses the now empty syringe into the plastic box and picks up a giant crayon and draws a slash mark between the piglet’s shoulder blades.

            The entire process takes about two seconds.

            “What are you doing,” I ask again, raising my voice.

Thanks for reading my snippet!

Revisiting Dwarfed 1/19/14 #WeWriWa

The Weekend Writing Warrior and Snippet Sunday are blog hops that provide authors with a fantastic opportunity to support one another, promote their books, and just have a good time. Each week authors post 8 sentences from WIPS or published works. It's lots of fun.

Now that the January is more than half over, I have a difficult time promoting a Christmas themed book, but after nearly a year, I've picked up DWARFED and started editing it again, so I've decided to start sharing from it again, at least for a few weeks.

DWARFED is my pride and joy. Is's a YA story about a teenager with
achondroplasia dwarfisam who currently finds life a little tougher than she dreamt possible. I hope you enjoy it! When you're done here, take some time and read some of the great snippets that other participants have published. You'll be glad you did.

         Heat slams into me, drawing the moisture from my skin as I shoulder the door to the farrowing room open. It’s funny how warm 72 degrees feels after being outside where the air temperature is barely above freezing.  

            “Hey Grace!” Before the door has a chance to swing shut behind me, Al Verne, the farm manager, jumps out of the nursery crate. “You’re just in time to keep Luke company while he finishes up in here.

            “Morning.” I dig a plastic sandwich bag out of my skirt pocket, and walk to the crate where I can see the top of Luke’s battered ball cap. “Hey Luke, Aunt Maggie wanted me to bring you … What are you doing.”

Farrowing is a word used to describe a pig that's giving birth. A farrowing room is a quiet place where farmers place sows so they can have a few days of peace and quiet to get to know the newborn piglets.