Rainbow Snippet--The Problem With Jed

I read a lot of fantasy series in my teens and twenties. You know, where things unfold throughout the various books and something that happens in book one is explained in book two, to five, or eight? And I've just realized that I do that in my books, even though each has a different set of main characters. Actually, I knew it—it just hadn't given it much thought. Headphones is a true trilogy with the story starting in book one and ending in book three. Even the Campfire Stories series does this. Vaughn's "motivation" is explained in book two, and Lindsey's weird relationship with Vaughn is explained in book three. They build on each other, which isn't the best strategy for Contemporary Romance. So why am I bringing this up?

I got notes back from a beta reader on the first book in the Bar Games Series. And I've done it again—big time. In the first book, Blind Ante, Jed is a bad guy. Or, at least, a total jerk. And he gets a lot of "screen time", even though he isn't one of the MCs. But the thing is, there is a reason for the way he acts. And it's all in the second book. But how to get people to read the second book if they hate Jed? So yes, I have hours of rewriting ahead of me to tone him down. I'd hoped to have Blind Ante out by the end of June. SO not happening!

Anyway, here's an excerpt from Cut Shot, the second book of the series, where we get a chance to see things from Jed's side of the story:

That was how it’d started with Jordan. The kid had been scared, lost and battered when they'd first met. Balled up in a corner with his hands covering the back of his neck, Jordan was little more than skin and bones when Jed finally coaxed him to stand. It’d been like handling an injured bird those first days, and the rest of the crew poked fun at Jed, teasing him about his new pet giraffe when Jordan followed him around, usually gripping his shirt or jacket as if he feared losing him in a crowd. The way the 19-year-old towered over him bothered Jed until the day the young man dropped to his knees as a thank you. It didn’t take long to discover the scars Jordan’s dad left across his back. He’d been horrified when the kid broke down and handed Jed his own belt, begging him to cover the old marks with new. It was with trepidation that he’d done what the kid asked, memories of his time with Mitch haunting him as he did so.

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