Tuesday, August 3, 2010

A TEASE By Any Other Name...

So, Karla has been BAD! Not a single word written since last week's tease. Not a one...well, unless you count the nonsense I spew on Twitter. Then, I've written enough to fill volumes. Yes, friends. I have become addicted. I just can't help it. Twitter is like crack for me. Wonderful, intoxicating crack. Ahhhhhh....

Uh...wait. Where were we again? Oh, right. TEASE. This snip is still from my current WiP that just won't die already. Yes, this scene from LOVE IN A TIME OF POPULARITY comes on the heels of the carnival scene. You know the one where Dallas won Jenna a giant panda? It's the next day, actually, and Austin and Dallas have come over to Jenna's house to play in her pool.

Enjoy!!

“So,” he said after a few moments of silence in which we just watched the antics going on in the pool. “How’s Mr. Panda enjoying his new home? Is he making the transition okay?”

I snorted. “Well, you know there’s always a period of adjustment.” I heaved out a dramatic sigh. “He’s afraid of the dark, terrified really, which is funny considering how big he is.”

He nodded sympathetically. “Even big guys can be a little scared sometimes.”

“Yeah, well he ended up crawling into bed with me in the middle of the night. He’s a pillow hog, and he steals the covers.”

“Bad Mr. Panda,” Dallas chortled.

“You didn’t have to sleep with him!”

“Well, at least he didn’t have gas…wait, he didn’t, did he?”

“Thank god no!” We both broke into giggles at that. Our laughter drew Austin’s gaze over to us and he smiled.

“You two coming back in, or are you going to be anti-social?” He called.

I thought for a moment. “Anti-social,” I yelled back.

Dallas grinned at his brother and then took another swig of his lemonade.

“So Dallas,” I began. “And Austin.”

He nodded.

I rolled my hand in the air between us, pressing the question without having to speak.

“Born in Texas.” He told me. “You know we’re twins, not identical of course.”

I rolled my eyes. “Kind of hard to miss.”

His lips twitched up at the corners as if he was trying to hold in a laugh, and failing miserably.

“Well, Dad was stationed in Dallas at the time we were born, but Mom was in Austin visiting my aunt when she went into labor.” He shrugged. “So, Austin was named for the city we were born in—“

“And you were named for the city you lived in.” I finished.

He nodded. “Six more months and we would have been named Fort and Bragg.”

Another round of laughter peeled out of me. “Can I call you Braggy for short?”

“Not if you expect me to answer.” He deadpanned.

One thing about Dallas. He never failed to make me laugh. In fact, my sides were already beginning to hurt. “So, what about PJ?” I had to ask.

“Hawaii.” He answered. “PJ is short for Pearl June.”

“But, Pearl Harbor is a naval base.” I pointed out, confused. “I thought your dad was army.”

“Rangers,” he clarified. “Yeah, we were at Fort Shafter then.” One brow quirked up, and he smirked at me. “My mom may be a little nuts about naming her kids where we’ve been, but even she couldn’t name her daughter Shaft.”

Now, I really couldn’t breathe, I was laughing so hard. “I certainly hope not!” I gasped out between guffaws. When I finally got my chuckles under control, I poured myself a cup of lemonade and topped off his. “I take it PJ was born in June?” At his nod, I continued. “So, does that make your middle name March?”

“Close,” he chuckled.

“May?” I snickered. “Oh, please tell me it’s May!”

“You wish.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s August, and before you ask, no Austin’s middle name isn’t August, too. Or Thursday for that matter.” He didn’t wait for me to verbalize the question before he answered it. “It’s David…Dad’s name.”

He eyes turned sad then, and I reached out to squeeze his hand. “You miss him, don’t you?” I whispered.

He lifted his shoulders in a shrug that tried desperately to be careless but fell short by a mile. “He was gone a lot anyway.”

9 comments:

  1. I love the getting to know you type of conversations. This was done really well, and I love the ending where something really emotional trickles in. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh for god sakes...just finish it already...these teasers are making me cranky. I want to read the whole thing.

    You suck me in week after week and for what? For just a little taste, it's like eating only one potato chip or only getting one taste of chocolate each week.

    I can't wait for you to get this done so I can read it from front to back.

    Kelly

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ha! "Fort" and "Bragg"--too funny! Thank goodness they weren't born there.

    Great snippet. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is such a funny, lively tease! Great chemistry between characters.

    And man, do I hear you about twitter. If you haven't already, try the #amwriting hashtag when you want to get work done. It's a great place to find people willing to cheer on your progress. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a nice, natural intro conversation. You give a lot of important info without it being info dumpy. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, what an AWESOME tease! Your dialogue is SO amazing! Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great tease! Your dialogue is very natural and I'm looking forward to seeing more.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Angie: Thanks! I love those convos between characters when they don't know each other all that well. I always seem to learn so much more about them that way!

    Kelly: Calm your cranky ass down! It'll be okay. I promise...maybe. heheh *evil laugh*

    Linda: Yes, I, too, am glad that they were born in Texas. Dallas and Austin are just cooler names...although I'm kind of digging the name Fort for a character. Hmmm...

    Phoebe: I feel like Alice falling down the rabbit hole when I log onto to Twitter. I never know what kind of hijinks and shenanigans I might find, but that's okay. I love it there!

    Anon (whom I shall call Frank because everyone needs a name)...Frank: Thanks! I'm always a little concerned about making backstory known without it feeling like I'm just pelting the reader with a ton of info all at once.

    Karla--my name twin ;) Thanks! Everything I know about YA contemp romance, I learned from reading your teases. :)

    Joann: Thanks! Same here. I'm really loving your teases!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the dialogue in this teaser. It felt real, you know? I felt like, if I were to walk into a conversation, it could easily sound like the conversation in the teaser.

    Oh, and I agree about the #amwriting hashtag. I come across some really good advice on there for writing, and seeing all the other people writing makes me thing: "Hm, I should really go and start writing, myself."

    Anyway, great teaser!

    ReplyDelete

Everyone has an opinion. Make yours known, right here. right now!