Rainbow Snippets*-- Happy Father's Day!

I've spent the week editing. This was the "read aloud" edit. I really thought it was pretty clean, but it's amazing what you notice when you hear it as opposed to just silently reading it. I know each pass makes it better, but I just want to be done! 

I've been "feeling the blues", which usually results in me baking. And I had rhubarb that needed to be used, so Dad got a rhubarb pie for Father's Day. 

This week's snippet is from Embers and Flame, the book I've been editing. This is Cherry's first visit to Ben's hometown, and Ben takes him to the bar he and his friends frequent. Ben is bisexual, but he'd never been public about it and only a few people know. He doesn't realize how uncomfortable it makes Cherry. Told from Cherry's POV: 

     The bar was crowded and I hesitated at the door as the noise hit me. The jukebox was loud and the people trying to talk over it were louder. Ben was grinning so widely I was afraid his face might split. He was excited to introduce me to the rest of his friends, but my stomach rolled at the idea. It didn’t help that I was already getting ‘eat shit’ glares from some of the women before I’d taken a dozen steps into the building. Ben said that his crew from the campground had spread the story and everyone was cool about us, but if this was the local show of acceptance, I didn’t want a demonstration of how they handled those they considered objectionable.

Embers and Flame Blurb:

After an amicable breakup, Charles “Cherry” Andrews’ ex left him the couch, the bed, and the camping equipment. Replacing the noises of St. Louis with crickets and birdsong at his favorite campground feels like the perfect vacation. He’d hoped to prove to himself that he’s fine on his own, but instead of finding inner-peace, he’s simply bored. His evening becomes instantly more interesting when a gorgeous guy with a loud motorcycle pulls into the neighboring campsite. 
Ben Torres hopes that a cross-country motorcycle tour will help him find his own peace after his mother’s recent death, but a faulty tailpipe curtails his plans within hours of leaving home. Luckily for him, the cute redhead in the next camp spot happily shares his fishing equipment as well as offering taxi service during a week-long search for parts.

An unexpected kiss on their last day together leads to an afternoon of discovery that turns into a summer romance that in turn becomes a long distance relationship in the fall. Everything would be wonderful if they could spend the rest of their lives in a tent by a lake. But Cherry’s overly involved ex-boyfriend sticks his nose where it isn’t wanted and Ben’s 17-year-old son has a hard time accepting his father’s bisexuality. Two-hundred miles may be the least of the challenges they face.

*Rainbow Snippets is a (Facebook) group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers who gather once a week to share snippets from a work of fiction–-a WIP or a finished work or even a book recommendation. If you're interested in following a diverse group of authors, check it out here.