Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors where authors share an 8 - 10 sentence snippet. Be sure to visit the other authors. You can find them here.
Thanks for all your comments on last week's snippet from my work-in-progress, a romantic suspense, Numbers Never Lie. I'm in the home stretch for finishing this book. This week, I was laid low by a nasty cough, sore throat, and headache, so I didn't finish today as I planned.
Suggestions are always welcome on the blurb as well as the snippet.
Today's snippet follows last week's. Drew is on a camping trip with his daughter, Ellen, and seven other girls, organized by Maggie. After telling Drew there are no toilets, Ellen stalks off to be with her friends.
“Hey, come back here, honey,
I’m sure this is a little misunderstanding—c’mon, Ellen.” In the year since his
wife died, he and Ellen had had a lot of misunderstandings.
“I think she’s mad at you.”
Drew turned toward the quiet
voice behind him. There she was, leaning back against a tree, her knee bent and
booted foot propped against the trunk—Maggie Sinclair, Director of Camp Hell.
He knew Jack’s sister was an outdoor nut, but he didn’t think she was this bad.
Pissing in the bushes, for God’s sake.
Maggie was a tall woman,
only a few inches shorter than his own six feet, with the tan of a person who
spent time outdoors and laugh crinkles around her eyes—still the
roughneck tomboy he’d grown up with. Who else would want to spend a summer day
backpacking on dusty trails through snagging underbrush instead of out on a
perfectly manicured golf course where you only ventured into the rough to
retrieve an errant ball?
This is the tentative blurb:
A shocking secret brings danger to Jack Sinclair and his sister Maggie.
As kids, they were the fearless threesome. As adults, Jack's an accountant; Drew, a lawyer; Maggie, a teacher and camping troop leader. Returning from a weekend camping trip, Maggie receives horrifying news. She refuses to believe her brother’s fatal car crash was an accident. If the police won’t investigate, she’ll do it herself. Convincing Drew Campbell to help is her only recourse.
Drew Campbell was too busy to return his best friend’s phone call. Too busy to attend a camping meeting important to his teen daughter. Too busy to stay in touch with Jack. Logic and reason indicate Jack’s accident was just that--an accident caused by fatigue and fog. Prodded by guilt, he’ll help Maggie even if he thinks she’s wrong.
A break-in at Jack’s condo convinces Maggie she’s right. Then her home is searched. What did Jack leave behind?
Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors.
Happy Easter to all who celebrate. Since I'll be with my family on Sunday, I'll come around on Monday and Tuesday to read your snippets.
This chance meeting should prove interesting. :)
ReplyDeleteI always love when characters with a past meet again. And I'd rather take the trail than a golf course, though not if the bugs are bad.
ReplyDeleteAh-ha, so Drew recognizes Maggie's cute features at the same time he calls her a tomboy. Me thinks there may be a romance in their future. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteI suspect he's going to found out just how much she's changed.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Maggie will teach him what true nature is all about. I'm glad he recognized her, I wonder if she did too.
ReplyDeleteLove his description of her. Tweeted.
ReplyDeleteOh boy, this is going to be a long trip!
ReplyDeleteSorry you got sick - it's been a tough winter all around. Hoping for a speedy recovery! Great snippet, pulls me in with every step.
ReplyDeleteCamp Hell- that cracked me up. I've been there! But it sounds like Jack needs to loosen up. Maggie sounds like the woman to help him with that.
ReplyDeleteSounds like Drew could do with a little toughening up :)
ReplyDeleteThey don't seem to share the same interests!
ReplyDeleteI love the friction between these two before they even start talking.
ReplyDeleteSo far I'm not much liking Drew, I gotta admit, but I'm sure he'll go through quite the character arc in your capable hands... there's a lot of story left to be told here, going by the blurb. I did enjoy the excerpt! I hope you feel much better SOON!
ReplyDeleteIn my younger days I used to kind of enjoy camping, but no restroom facilities is something that I never cared for much. The story sounds like it has some good aspects to it.
ReplyDeleteArlee Bird
Tossing It Out (A)
Hope you feel better soon. Yes, I tend to feel Drew is a bit of a wimp. I've always been the outdoor type though, and hopping behind a (large) bush when nature calls is sort of second nature! :) Hope Maggie will help him toughen up!
ReplyDeleteLove characters with a shared past. You can never be quite sure if they'll pick up whatever they had and it'll develop into something, or if it'll be uncomfortable for them both. I look forward to reading more.
ReplyDelete