Well, it’s Wednesday. That means I get to post a ROW80 update and a WIPpet update. I woke up this morning with a killer sore throat. I guess I’m not as over this cold thing as I thought I was. February has started, and February at my day job is INSANE! Not because it’s the month specifically but because I have a trip, it’s the start to Lent, it’s the start of so many things I have to be involved in.
But I’ve also been on fire this week. I can taste the rainbow! I’m going to start with ROW80 as is normal. If you’re just here for the WIPpet, skip down.
- write 1667 words a day
- Sunday – 4197
- Monday – 4420
- Tuesday – 3913
- Blog posts each week:ROW80,WIPpet, Open When, and 1 extra post
- Have two extra posts this week, one today and one tomorrow.
- Audio: Record/Edit a chapter a week
- Not done
I have about 8k words left to write in the novel I’m currently working on…that means I’ll have to find something new for after that. I won’t be posting next week at all since I will be out of town. I’ll schedule most of my regular posts, but that’s it.
WIPpet
So this week was a bit difficult for me to choose because I’ve written so much. Next week, meaning Ash Wednesday, meaning Feb 18th and the next time I’ll be participating, will be EVEN harder. I should be done with this novel by then. I should be done with this series by then. It’s sad to think about.
Here’s my WIPpet for the week. From chapter 14, Fire and Brimstone. Deputy Grace Halling has just responded to a call where a vehicle is on fire in a transit parking lot. Today you get 8 short paragraphs because well… 2 +4 + 0 ( 1 + 5) = 8
Once the fire was doused, the firefighters checked on the car. Grace still stood in place. Other officers had driven by, but she’d waved them off to continue with their rounds. It wouldn’t do to have them all gathered around a transit station for nothing more than just a car. She was just debating whether or not to call in investigations when the firefighter who was clearly in charge waved her over.
Grace’s knees creaked when she took her first step. The cold had gotten to them and locked them in place. She slowly made her way closer. The smell was sickening. The scent of burning wood was often comforting, but this, this was a mixture of plastic and heat. Heat beyond what she’d ever seen. Grace wrinkled her nose as she took another step, hitting a patch of ice.
She groaned when her body tilted. Her hands flung out on either side of her body and she swung them around to try and stop her momentum. It didn’t help. Grace closed her eyes as the weight of her body barreled closer to the ground. Her back hit it first, then her shoulders and then her head. Grace moaned and turned on her side as soon as everything stopped moving.
The firefighters were right on top of her. She kept her eyes shut to wave off the embarrassment and to focus herself before she tried to get up again. Their hands were on her face and they were talking to her, but Grace ignored them for a moment. Her back, butt and head hurt like it hadn’t in ages. She’d thought she’d gotten so much better at the being clumsy thing, but obviously she had not.
They tapped her face, and Grace finally opened her eyes to look at them. “Are you all right?” one asked.
“Yeah, fucking dandy. Anyone ever tell you water turns to ice when it’s ten below zero?”
He grinned but kept his hand on her cheek when he respond. “Why yes, yes they did. Also why I walk carefully in the vicinity of water in that temperature.”
She snorted and rolled up so she was leaning on her side. Her head spun and made her feel queasy. Grace clamped her mouth shut and closed her eyes again as the wave of dizziness floated through her system. It would not be good if they wanted to call paramedics. She would be out for her shift, and she couldn’t have that happening. It’d only just begun.
If you would like to join in WIPpet Wednesday, DO IT! To participate you post an excerpt of your WIP, work in progress, on your blog. Correlate it somehow to the date. Then link it here with the rest and comment on some other ones. It’s all fun and games. =P
Aw, poor Grace. When this started, I thought it was going to be something entirely different–like someone trapped in the car. I do feel bad for her, though.
Haha no stripped and set on fire. No more people burning in cars for me =P
“She’d thought she’d gotten so much better at the being clumsy thing, but obviously she had not.” Brilliant! 😀 Poor Grace. That’d be humiliating. It’s lots of fun to read about though. 🙂
Haha she’s so clumsy I love it! Thanks!
Your math leaves something to be desired. 😀 But the descriptions in this passage are great!
And wow — congrats on all the words!
Doh! I meant a x in there….ooops. =P
Haha love the exchange between Grace and the firefighter. Great response, Grace. I like your writing style. Poor Grace, yes, but good piece.
Yeah Grace is blunt and dry. =P thanks!! That’s probably the best compliment anyone could ever give me.
I’m with Amy, I was expecting some gruesome discovery in the car. Poor Grace. I’ve had one too many encounters with ice, and I feel her pain.
Clearly I write too much horroresque things if you all think i’m going to burn someone alive. =P I like this. lol
Poor Grace! If it had to happen, at least there’s a good-looking firefighter to help her.
ha yeah…totally not Grace’s type…she uh…let’s see how do I do this…Grace is a lesbian. =P
Poor Grace, nothing worse than going over on ice and walloping yourself so hard on the floor all you can do is lie there stunned. Nice to see she kept her snark about her despite it all, made me laugh aloud. Great description of the smell too, and the way the cold’s got to her, I could visualise it all perfectly.
Awww that probably made my day!!!
Darn gravity!
I thought you were burning someone, too – but that could be my problem, and not yours.
I want to hug Grace, even though she doesn’t really seem to be the hugging type. The embarrassment factor of going down in from of those firemen, when she’s a tough lady cop….
Darn gravity.
I hope she’s not too achy when she gets up, and that Amya is waiting with a hot beverage and a gentle snuggle when she gets home.
And, by the way, I loved this, even though you didn’t char anything but the car!
Well, that was totally not what I was expecting. I’m with Amy – I was expecting to be there a body in the car! Evil ice, springing up and surprising Grace like that!
Lol evil ice is right. I wonder if Elsa was around!
I was wondering if Grace was a cop (thanks for dropping the hint Shan) because her humiliation seemed perfect for someone in that situation. I was cringing as she fell, feeling the way her back slammed first, her head… Ouch! It makes me shudder. I tend to do things like that so I sympathise 🙂
Nice snippet.
Oh yeah! She’s a Sheriff’s Deputy. Yeah I fall that way too =( Grace definitely gets her clumsiness from me. =P Thanks!