WORKING ON THE 'NANO'

Finally got around to looking at the work I did when I was taking part in NaNoWriMo.  I am definitely going to have to separate the 'novel' into two parts - a romantic comedy and a crime novel - as I don't think the two work well together, so all of a sudden my over 35K will be cut in half! Oh well, that's editing for you.  I am going to be entering a few competitions first, so I will be editing some other work before I get around to working on the 'NaNo' files, but I think I will be more inclined to try and get to first draft stage with the romantic comedy as I quite enjoyed the characters 'talking to me.'  I will be entering my two new poems 'Song of Memories' and 'Obsidian' into two poetry competitions, I am going to get my childrens picture book story 'The Pizza-Making Devil' sent off to a publisher and will be entering one of my plays into the Ronald Duncan Playwrighting competition, so this will keep me busy for a little while.  I am also just over halfway through reading drafts of Dawn and Neil's work that we will be looking at at the next Writers Group on Monday evening, phew, so I will get to back to the 'NaNo' novels soon.

Here is a taster of what I wrote as part of the NaNo challenge (the romantic comedy):

“It’s delightful,” she demurred and the waiter poured both glasses, arranged the wine bottle back into the ice in the ice bucket, bowed slightly and left them again.

 To distract from the earlier conversation, Danny picked up his glass and tasted it; it really was a decent drop.  He nodded towards her and placed it back on the table,

 “You still have excellent taste I see,” he said as she picked up her glass and sipped it.  She replaced the glass and took a couple of peanuts out of one of the bowls.

 “Some things never change,” she smiled and placed the peanuts into her mouth.  He wasn’t sure, but he was sure the temperature in the room had raised another notch.  What on earth was the matter with him?  Was it just his nerves, or something more basic? 

 “So what brings you back here after all these years?” she asked when her mouth was empty once more.

 ‘You’ he thought, but instead he found himself saying, “I am working not far from here.  So, you are working at that café,” he stated as his eyes raked her from head to toe, taking in the ridiculously short uniform and the unfeasibly high stilettos, “I pictured something altogether different for you, but I have to say I approve of the uniform.”

 She laughed out loud at that and he knew he was lost.  Nothing could ever affect him like her laugh had and he found himself relaxing back into the sofa.

 “It seems your boss’s perks has benefits for us all.”

 “You have no idea.  As it happens, Rose, one of the girls who works with me, he has a bit of a crush on and I swear that’s the only reason we have to wear these stupid things.  But I am glad you approve.”

 “I’m sure I’m not the only one.  I think every man in here has noticed you,” he confided.

 “Well, Stan’s uniform will do that for a girl,” she took a hearty mouthful of wine and then relaxed back into the sofa herself. 

 He could feel the heat from her thigh reverberating through his and had to fight to stop himself from leaning closer so he could initiate full contact.

 “Seriously, you are looking amazing.  I knew it was you straight away.”

“Then why on earth didn’t you say anything?” she smiled.

 “I thought you’d had enough of a shock for one night!” he joked back, feeling more at east than he had felt in months.  It felt like coming home.