Take This, You So-Called Readers!
With my first novel about to be published, I've meandered into a third -- yes, there's a second mostly done -- and I've decided to post bits of it here. Why? Because why have a blog if not because you can post anything you damn well please on it!
So:
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Tom was the only customer in the bar when Carlos came in the front door, made a sharp left, walked eight feet forward, and came to a standstill, his gaze fixed on a rubber tree in the corner of the bar. Well, not quite a standstill, as he quivered in place. He was covered in light gray dust, and he wore a blue sweatjacket with the hood pulled up, hiding most of his face.
Tom looked at Jenna and said, “I guess Carlos didn’t score today, huh?”
She gave him a wistful smile and shook her head.
About a minute later two well-dressed couples in their mid-fifties entered the bar, looking for dinner. When they were told that dinner in the restaurant upstairs didn’t start for a half hour, they decided to have a drink. They gave Jenna their orders and settled into barstools. Tom nonchalantly observed their growing sense that something was amiss down at the far end of the room. When Jenna returned after serving the foursome, he said, “I bet those folks are a little puzzled by the scary-looking Hispanic man who’s facing the corner, shaking violently, and staring into a potted plant, huh?”
“It’s part of the ambience they’re paying for.”
So:
**************
Tom was the only customer in the bar when Carlos came in the front door, made a sharp left, walked eight feet forward, and came to a standstill, his gaze fixed on a rubber tree in the corner of the bar. Well, not quite a standstill, as he quivered in place. He was covered in light gray dust, and he wore a blue sweatjacket with the hood pulled up, hiding most of his face.
Tom looked at Jenna and said, “I guess Carlos didn’t score today, huh?”
She gave him a wistful smile and shook her head.
About a minute later two well-dressed couples in their mid-fifties entered the bar, looking for dinner. When they were told that dinner in the restaurant upstairs didn’t start for a half hour, they decided to have a drink. They gave Jenna their orders and settled into barstools. Tom nonchalantly observed their growing sense that something was amiss down at the far end of the room. When Jenna returned after serving the foursome, he said, “I bet those folks are a little puzzled by the scary-looking Hispanic man who’s facing the corner, shaking violently, and staring into a potted plant, huh?”
“It’s part of the ambience they’re paying for.”
Gene, when is your novel actually going to be available?
ReplyDeleteThree weeks? (It's out of my hands at present.)
ReplyDelete