Sadie Jay

My "other" job is the grocery business and Thanksgiving week is one of the busiest for us each year. It's another reason why NaNo is difficult for me--I'm exhausted by the time I get home from work! Congrats to everyone who did it this month--even if you didn't quite get to 50k. This week's snippet is again taken from the vampire short I've been editing, Fangs for the Memories , and starts a few paragraphs after last week's . Rollie has been joined by his date, Oakley, for the evening and it turned into an argument. But as it turns out, Oakley's constant tardiness is quickly forgotten:             I dropped the conversation. Nothing was going to be accomplished and I was hungry. “Can I get a menu, please?” I asked the bartender as he handed Oakley his cranberry juice concoction.  It was the other bartender, Aja, standing across from me and I stared at his back. I couldn’t tell how long his hair was because it was pulled up in a messy bun,...

I love getting feedback from beta readers. Sometimes there's a moment of depression when the first sentence isn't "I love it, it's perfect!" Which, of course, never happens. And when I pick through the comments, it's usually not that bad--it's the things I pretty well knew were problematic but hoped weren't! A good beta reader will be truthfully critical but will also say what works, what is good. My surprise with Headphones? Readers really like Elinor-- a side character that is important to Headphones but which I didn't give a high word count. Funny how that works! This week's snippet from Headphones: In From the Cold ; Elinor’s shop was everything good--Earth hues swirled at the edge of Headphones’ vision as she stepped inside. Flowing brown and green silk hung on the walls, creating a soft organic ambiance enhanced by air that smelled of sage and sandalwood. The small shop was tranquil and relaxing, much like the woman who ran i...

Or is that kittens and puppies? Mother's Day isn't something we really celebrate here in the House of Jones. But there's no rain in the forecast today, so I'll probably do some grilling. We do have a "new" addition to the household, tho, making me a Grandma of sorts, so I guess I can "celebrate" that. A feral kitten that we'd managed to tame surprised us with a kitten of her own. Thank goodness she only had the one. Hopefully, we can get her to the vet before we end up with a full litter! Introducing week-old Peppercorn. This week's snippet once again comes from the first book of the Headphones series. And even though it's an ensemble story, I'm focusing on Scoey and Jay's relationship. In today's scene, the two have known each other for about a month and are working together as bartenders. Jay, who is bi, is being harassed by his ex, Crissy, and Scoey has had enough of it:              Crissy  abruptly stopped her...

I finished book 2 of the Headphones series this week, so now on to book 3. The first two books have both clocked in at 70k but I think the third will be slightly shorter. I'd like to say I'll finish in two months, but best-laid plans always go astray! Still, I'm optimistic. The first set of cards are pinned and ready, so here I go! (Instagram photo) This week's snippet is again from book 1, In From the Cold , and features Jay and Scoey. Scoey has been sleeping on his brother's couch while looking for a place. He was invited to stay with a group of Richard's friends who converted an old fraternity house into what is basically a boarding house.  In this scene, Scoey's been exploring his new home when Jay comes looking for him.  Almost as if his thoughts had summoned Jay, Scoey heard his name echoing down the hall. “In here,” he called back. “Where’s here?” he got in return. Scoey wasn’t sure what to call the room as he looked around. “Ther...

I'm close to finishing book 2 ( Sunshine Smile ) of the Headphones series. Camp NaNoWriMo has been a great tool to keep myself focused. I won't quite hit "the end" by the 30th, but I should next weekend. It's nice to see the completion of a project, even though completion is a strong word--this is only the first draft, after all! There will be much editing to follow. The plan is to set it aside, like I have book 1 ( In From The Cold ), and start immediately on the third installment. Headphones is an ensemble story chronicling the journeys of five different couples. I've mentioned Headphones (Jessie) and Mick in past weeks, but I'm going to concentrate on Jay and Scoey going forward-- since this is Rainbow Snippets! Their relationship is a bit of a slow burn, not really picking up until book 2. This week's snippet (from book 1) takes place a few days after last week's. Scoey, newly out of the military, is settling in, spending time with his br...

When I first wrote Headphones , I published it in "snapshots" on this blog. (Hence the blog name!) It was a story I had started in high school but never really developed. I've always been notorious for never finishing things and I decided to prove to myself that I could do it. And I did.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it at the time, but I had the foresight to put each snapshot on a color-coded card, which has been a Godsend. Each book in the trilogy covers 4 months, so that's roughly 120 snapshots per. And I just posted the final 24 to book 2. I've used this as my Camp NaNo project and I would love to finish it by the end of the month. It probably won't happen, but it'll be close. And then I'll start again with the next 4-months-worth of cards for book 3. This really has turned into a labor of love.  This week's snippet comes a few minutes after last weeks :  Scoey had just walked into his brother Richard's bar and...

It has definitely begun to feel like Spring, although the weatherman says we're going to have a few cold nights yet. But I've not needed the scarf and gloves and extra layers for the walk to work, so I'm past happy! For the next few months, I'm going to be concentrating on my Headphones trilogy. It's a bit hard to explain and writing the blurb, when that time comes, is going to be a killer! It's an ensemble story with five different couples (each representing a different trope) all braided together, centered around the young woman they call Headphones. The story covers one year, starting January 1st and ends on the next January 1st. The last couple of weeks I've done snippets of Headphones and Mick, but this week I'm introducing another couple: Jay and Scoey. Jay is an androgynous keyboard player and part-time bartender, Scoey is the brother of Richard, who is the drummer of the band and owner of the bar where the group hangs out. Today's s...

I actually managed to finish the first draft of Smoke and Sparks last weekend, so now I'm going to let it sit for a bit before I start editing. Even so, I'm behind on CampNaNo, which doesn't surprise me. With the boss is out of town, I'm working overtime. On top of less time to write, I'm tired. But he'll be back in a few days and maybe I can get caught up again. At least it's beginning to look like Spring is really, finally, here.  In last week's snippet, Mick realizes he knew Headphones' dad and that they'd met  once  when she was in her teens. Headphones is the nickname that Mick bestowed on Jessie in the first book before anyone knew her name, and it stuck.  “Alright, Jessie?” Mick said, letting her know he was there. She startled and then grimaced. “Don’t call me that.” “What? It’s your name.” She shook her head as she answered. “No, she was someone else. I don’t even know her anymore. She’s broken.” Ah, she was in o...

Smoke and Sparks is almost done. I thought I was working on the last chapter but it looks like I'm going to be adding one more. And then there's the epilogue. If it was a typical weekend I'd very possibly finish it. But seeing as how the boss went to South Carolina on vacation, I'm going to have to work. On the off-chance I don't finish it before Monday, I'll just apply my word count on those days to my Camp NaNo. And then it's back to Headphones .  This week's snippet comes from the second book in the Headphones trilogy. Mick is a retired rock-star. He'd hit it big with his band, Freewheel, but when the lead guitarist (and his best friend) died, he found a place where no one recognized him and settled down to live quietly. That is until Headphones stumbled into his life. He'd been surprised to find she has mad musical skills and has been mentoring her for several months at this point. He's asked her who taught her to play and she a...

I've crossed the 50K line this week. The goal is still to try and finish Smoke and Sparks by the end of the month, but if not, I'll be close. This week's snippet is the full scene I used as a teaser on the Twitter #writeLGBTQ tag. I like seeing other writers' contributions. It's a brotherhood of sorts, sharing our art (in word form!), just like sharing our Snippets each weekend! This week's snippet: The set up--It's the day after Thanksgiving and Daryl and Vaughn are visiting Daryl's uncle's garage. His older cousin, Larry, works there (a thoroughly unpleasant person) and he made some comments that upset Vaughn. Written from Daryl's POV: “Sorry,” I said as I buckled my seat belt. “It’s okay. Not your fault,” Vaughn replied softly. His hands were folded on his lap and he was worrying his fingers in a nervous gesture. “I should have dressed differently.” “Hey, no!” I reached over to cover his hands with one of mine and he wen...

Happy St. Patrick's day! My ancestry is heavy on the Irish, but the only recipe that got handed down was Grandma's ribs and kraut with dumplings. I'm not kidding when I say it's one of my favorite meals. No corned beef and cabbage for us! I did bake some cookies, though, to celebrate my heritage.  I made some progress on  Smoke and Sparks this week. Which, yeah me! I'm shooting for 60k on this book because that's the word count in the first book of the series and I like to stay consistent, but I'll be happy with anything over 55k. And since I'm past 47k now and still have two beats and the epilogue, I don't think it'll be a problem. If I can keep up my momentum, I should be done just in time to start my CampNaNo project! In last week's snippet, Daryl came out to his mother and it went well. He wasn't overly  worried about it because his cousin Ben had come out only a few months earlier with little fanfare. Daryl has convinced...

Camp NaNo starts in three weeks and I'd hoped to have Smoke and Sparks done by then so I could work on another project in April, but unless there is some miracle where I get more hours in my days, I'm not going to finish this current WIP in time. But that's okay. Slow and steady is still progress. This week's snippet is from Daryl's POV. I've gone back a few chapters to when Daryl has accepted the job offer in St. Louis and made plans to move in with Vaughn. He'd not come out to his family yet, but his mom has heard the rumors and starts the conversation herself: “So when I said someday you’d meet the right girl…?” Could she please quit asking these open-ended questions? I couldn’t work out what she wanted to know. “I figured you were right. That I hadn’t met the right girl.” The words came out sharper than I meant them to and her eyes widened. I softened my tone. “I didn’t know then that the right girl was a guy. I really didn’t know. But I ma...

I know Spring is still officially a few weeks away, but I don't think it can get here soon enough for me. We get hints of it occasionally, a warm day here and there, but then the temperatures drop and we get sleet and snow. Or at least that's how the last week has been. But I'm reminding myself that it won't be long before I can get my lawn chair out and sit in the sun while burgers are cooking on the grill next to me!    I really started this year out without much of a goal other than "finish this current WIP and then decide." And even though Smoke and Sparks isn't coming easily, I'm only a few pages away from the 40k mark, which means I'm on the home stretch. So... what I've decided, although this will probably change, is to finish this and then put it away to "stew" for a bit, then complete the rewrites on the Headphones series and put serious work into publishing them. Hopefully, that would be for a Fall release. Possibly ...

I've been saying for weeks I'd get back to my routine when everything got back to normal, but I've decided that isn't going to happen. First it was the Holidays, then it was vacation, and this week it involved a funeral. Plus, we've been running with less than a skeleton crew at work, which makes everything difficult. But I have managed to write every day and I did hit the 30k mark. I'll take my small victories where I can! I didn't really outline Smoke and Sparks before I started writing. Vaughn and Daryl were two side characters from Embers and Flame that I thought would go well together in a kind of "opposites attract" way. I had a brief notion that they would move in together after having a brief long-distance relationship. The questions in my mind becomes are they boyfriends or just friends (even though they've shared a few kisses) and are they dating, and how does that work with someone you live with? So, yes, even though I have a loo...

I'm still trying to get things back to normal and settle into my old routine, although the fates seem to be against me. But the holidays are over and everyone is finally done with vacations, at least for the moment. I have managed to write every day this week, even though my word count isn't where I want it to be. I think I've hit the mid-point of Vaughn and Daryl's story, so I'm going to call it a win and leave it at that. I decided last weekend to put together a more detailed "outline" but that never seems to work for me. I can "know" where the story's going, but as soon as I start typing, it goes somewhere else completely. Funny how characters seem to have a life of their own! In this snippet: Vaughn needs a roommate and Daryl needs a place to stay for a few months while he helps his uncle out (because the alternative is living with his uncle and aunt--and who wants to do that when there's a cute guy he wants to get to know bett...

I'm back from vacation. I spent a week on a cruise (my first!) in the Caribbean, soaking in the sun. And then came home to the Polar Vortex. To say it was a shock to my system is an understatement! But I'm back and it's time to get serious. I started my current WIP at the first of November but between the Holidays and this trip, I've only managed to reach the 25K mark. Chances are I won't finish it this month, but it's doable if I avoid disruptions. (Or if they avoid me!) Today's snippet is a conversation between Vaughn and Daryl using Facetime. Their relationship is long distance at this point in the story and the POV is Vaughn's. (Daryl's) expression went from worried to skeptical, clearly evident even on the small screen, but he chose to not respond. “I thought you had to work tonight.” I pulled the phone back far enough to include my brown and cream smock. “Not wearing this to make a fashion statement.” “Oh, Darling, you don’t ne...

The first week in January always just kind of "happens" for me. It's like I go into a semi-trance and when I wake up it's already the 10th. I think it's the come-down from the hussle and stress of the holidays. But the trees and the decorations have been boxed and stored, so maybe life can get back to normal, except I'll be on vacation the second half of this month. Which means my head's still not in the game. This WIP is taking much longer than I'd hoped. I should never plan to finish something in December or January. I'm past 20K and struggling with the plot-line on Smoke and Sparks , but then again, I think I've said that at this point with nearly everything I've written. My plans for the next 2 weeks are more about outlining the second half than it is about word count. I'm usually a pantser, so this may not work at all for me, but New Year, new strategy! Today's snippet is from early in the story. It's the day that Dar...

2018. What can I say? I'm at that age where one asks "Where has the time gone?" but at the same time, in so many ways, this year has seemed endless. My goal for 2018 had been to start publishing and I did manage to have one short story published, so I met that goal; just maybe not in the way I meant. Therefore, my goal for 2019 is to get brave, make concrete decisions, and publish at least one of my books! That's as far as my resolutions go. (after all, who likes a skinny, sober bitch anyway?!)  My snippet this week comes from one of my first manuscripts, When Silverfish Dance . It's not a romance so much as a Suspense with Romantic elements. In other words, it ends with a HFN instead of a HEA. Although, if I ever manage to write the sequel...! It's New Year's Eve, 1973, and the two main characters, Morgan and Barry, are pretending to be a couple. Sometimes the lines blur: Barry looked up at him with a small smile and said, “Look, it’s almo...

The most wonderful time of the year! Or at least the busiest. I work retail so the last few weeks have been a bit nuts. I'm off today so I'm going to spend the day finishing up, plus my daughter's coming in this afternoon to spend the week with us. I don't expect to get much writing done, but a break is good once in awhile. Since it's the last weekend before Christmas, I thought a Christmas scene was in order, so I'm going back to  Cut Shot . I almost think Jed and Ian's story is my favorite of the books I've written and I'm not sure why except I really developed a soft spot for Jed. In this chapter, he comes out of the bar after he and Ian have just had words in the restroom. excerpt from Chapter 15: Jed should have been surprised to find Ian leaning against his truck after he paid his tab and got stopped twice by people who wanted to say hi, but he wasn’t. The snow was still flurrying, giving the night a soft ambiance. Somehow Christmas h...

It snowed this week. Again. It's the second we've had this winter with measurable accumulation and probably more than we had all last winter. It doesn't bode well for the next few months. I used to like snow and the cold, but I was younger then and it didn't feel like such a hassle getting where I had to go, nor did the cold hurt as much! It was pretty, though, as it came down and settled on the trees. (my evening walk home from work, hence the dimness) I like the silence that comes with snow, the way it seems to insolate and soundproof the world, and how it sparkles when the sun comes out. And the crunch when I walk on it. And the way it makes it feel more like Christmas. Which is why I have a snow scene in Cut Shot . And in honor of this week's smattering of white, I'm dedicating this week's snippet to Winter Wonderlands everywhere. This week's snippet from Chapter 20:               Relief shook him when he sighted the car parked in ...