Saturday, August 10, 2013

Weekend Writing Warriors 8/11/13


Street Glass is my novel-in-progress. My tagline: Underprivileged 18-yr-old Latino leaves street gang and befriends white, over-privileged musicians.

While some of the plot is subject to change (draft two is a pretty early draft, after all) the basic elements will stay, as will the character "voices." So these excerpts will still give you a good idea of how the plot plays out and what the characters are like. The year is 1986, in Los Angeles, California.

All the previous excerpts are collected here. This snippet takes place in the same scene as last week’s snippet. Sandy speaks first: 
“Did you mean it when you said you killed fourteen people?”

Neal grinned and said, “No, but it scares Anglos a lot.”

Sandy shifted his weight, looked around the room, cleared his throat, and asked quietly, “Have you killed anybody?”

“You tol’ me to leave all that in my past, so don’t ask.”

Funny Anglo, he looked like he stopped breathing.  Neal asked, “The band ain’t got AKs or nine mils in the house, right?”

“If you mean guns, of course not.”

“Then you’re all safe,” Neal said with another grin.

Sandy didn’t look convinced.
Neal refers to all white people as Anglos.

Tag along at Weekend Writing Warriors as we blog hop all over the world, reading fabulous snippets from works in progress, works just published and some just about to be. You'll find various genres and blends of genres. Believe me, our participating writers have full and active imaginations!

Thanks for visiting my blog today. Comments gratefully accepted :-D

23 comments:

  1. Love the voices of the characters, very appropriate for this kind of story!

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  2. Interesting that Neil didn't answer the question! Looking forward to the next instalment. I would absolutely buy this book. :-)

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  3. I really love this conversation...and it brought a smile to my face to see Neal sort of joking with Sandy!

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    1. Hi Millie! Thanks so much. Neal doesn't get the upper hand often in life and can't resist the urge to poke some fun ;-)

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    2. Well, good for him! I really enjoyed this little snippet!

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  4. I like Neal and I can just visualize Sandy trying to figure out what's truth and what's teasing. Really a well done snippet!

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    1. lol, thanks Veronica! It's especially tough for Sandy because he tends to think everybody is honest. As they get to know each other, Neal loves pulling gags on Sandy because he never seems to catch on!

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  5. Someone saying they'd killed 14 people would scare the heck out of me. Great snippet, Marcia, I always look forward to reading them.

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    1. Why thanks Jess, that's sweet of you. These guys are a lot of fun to write about.

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  6. Neal is having some fun at Sandy's expense, lol. I like it. Good 8, Marcia. I like seeing this side of Neal! :-)

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    1. He loosens up as the story goes on, but certain parts of his personality are not submerged easily ;-)

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  7. Sounds like Neal is torn between his bad-boy persona and reassuring his new "friends."

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  8. Another excellent eight there.

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  9. So Neal has a sense of humor. Nice.

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    1. Hi Elaine. His sense of humor comes out more as he gets to know Sandy better. It's hard to get certain things across in only 8 sentences, lol!

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  10. This is the first time I've read your snippets, and I find the dialogue very well done... it brings me into a whole new environment for me, Los Angeles in the 80's. I'm very intrigued by the story line and I find myself rooting for Neal, not even knowing him very well yet! Thanks for a great 8!

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    1. Thanks very much Susan, that's humbling and exciting for me at the same time!

      I'm dying to introduce Beemer to 8sunday readers. He's a secondary character but I love how he's turning out :D :D

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  11. So dark and real, Marcia. I'm amazed at how even their "banter" is plot-driven in a way that it contributes to the plausibility of the setting and characters. Smart! :)

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    1. How sweet of you Dana. This bit has been condensed but you know, so often I look at a condensed excerpt and think, Hey that might be more to the point, maybe I should use that in the full scene!

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