This month didn’t quite go according to plan. I got about 4000 words into the story and it petered out, and I had to take a long look at what’s going on with both of these novels that are fighting me every step of the way. I’m not sure I’ve quite figured out what the problem is (largely, I’m blaming fear of failure and stress [oh me, oh life]) but I’ve rearranged my goals for the rest of 2010 and 2011, and these books will get written. They will.
Meantime, I wrote some other stuff.
13785 / 16000 words. 86% done!
209399 / 200000 words. 105% done!
Oh yeah, I also kicked my yearly goal’s ass.
Good news: the next installment of Apples & Gin will be published on December 15. I handed in my final edits last night.
Excerpt!
The sun had set while they were inside, and the moon was high in the clear, dark sky. Sawyer turned off all the lights in the house so there wouldn’t be anything between them and the night, and Noah, after initially complaining that this was far too cold to be the desert, fell silent as he looked up at the stars.
They were naked in the burbling water, robes and slippers on the deck chairs for when they were ready to go back indoors. Sawyer felt soothed by the hot water that swirled around his body compared to the cold air around his face. It reminded him of waiting for the school bus as a kid, every inch bundled against the snow except for his eyes. This cold was nowhere near as biting and intense, but the contrast was evocative.
Noah said quietly, “It’s been a long time since I’ve been this far away from civilization.”
“Yeah?” Sawyer murmured.
“It’s so easy to forget about all those stars. How dark real darkness is, but how bright the night sky can be.” Noah was quiet. “Sometimes I see something like this, something just vast, and I think I could photograph this until the day I died and I’d still never capture how amazing it is.” He turned his head, still resting on the edge of the hot tub, to look at Sawyer. “Sometimes I feel so small, kid.”
“You’re not. You’re as vast as this sky.”
“That sounds like a song.”
Sawyer smiled and said, “Maybe it is.” It was a common exchange between them, and sometimes Noah was even right.
Sawyer moved closer so that he could lean against Noah’s shoulder. Noah wrapped an arm around him and kissed his forehead, and rubbed his arm to warm him. “You weren’t supposed to change my life. You were supposed to be just another client, not this gorgeous kid with a big heart and talent to match.”
“So we are talking about our feelings.”
“Just a little. I feel you are the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time, and I feel happy about it.”
“I feel pleased that you feel happy,” Sawyer said. “I also feel it’s high time there’s some lovin’ up in here, because I feel a little sexy.” He moved to straddle Noah’s thighs and took his face in both hands.
“I feel,” Noah breathed, “you are absolutely right,” and held Sawyer’s waist as they kissed.
Mirrored from Jenna Jones.com.