image of laptop, cappuccino, and flower | WIP Wednesday March 2020, Bryn Donovan

Hi friends! Well, as I’m writing this, I’m surrounded by boxes and bags. The moving van comes tomorrow morning, and I still have a lot of packing to do before then after my workday is over, so wish me luck! I’m sure it’ll go okay!

Did I finish my novel this month while getting ready to move halfway across the country? I did not! But I made progress!

Most of you reading this know the rules of Work In Process Wednesday, but I’ll go over them just in case! I share an excerpt of my writing and invite you to do the same in the comments section. Just keep in mind…

•500 words or less (I’ll usually trim it for you otherwise)
•no graphic content (a little vulgar language is no big deal)
•no linking to finished work (but linking to more work in progress is fine)
•no critique, helpful suggestions, or demands for clarity in response to anyone else’s excerpt, but kind words are welcome!

 

Okay! Here’s a little flirting between Nic and Sophie. I don’t know how much it’ll make sense out of context.

 

“You’re a Virgo,” she said.

He blinked. “What?”

“September second.” Unexpectedly, her red lips curved up into a smile, bringing an uncertain but welcome warmth to his soul, like a shaft of winter sunshine.

“Huh.” He knew what his birth year meant in the Chinese zodiac: the Dragon, which had always made his sisters jealous, since they weren’t as pleased with Rat and Pig. Once or twice, he’d teased them about it; what brother could’ve resisted? He didn’t know much about the Greek zodiac. “What are Virgos like?”

She was still smiling. “Well, Virgo means the Virgin.”

He laughed. “So, really inaccurate.” This edged on flirting, a dangerous pleasure, and her raising an eyebrow didn’t help.

“Other than that, it’s accurate,” she said.

“Why? What else are they supposed to be like?”

“They worry a lot.” She raised a shoulder in a shrug. “And when they’re worried about people, they’re really grouchy at them.”

“Really.”

“I made up the second part.” Ha. He didn’t usually consider himself gullible. “But they do worry a lot.”

“How do you know about all this?”

“I worked with this woman at the museum who was really into it. I’ve probably got them all memorized.” She glanced upward, thinking. “They like to plan everything out. They work really hard. They’re too modest…don’t draw a lot of attention to themselves.”

Nic fidgeted. Accurate. Instead of that, he said, “So it’s Virgo because it’s the least sexy sign there is.” Shit. Definitely flirting now.

“I don’t know about that.” The smooth playfulness in her voice sent heat rushing through him.

She didn’t belong in prison. She belonged back at the museum, or in Paris, or in his bed. After he’d made it up with silk sheets.

She looked down, counting off attributes with her fingers. “They like to take care of people. They’re very respectful of boundaries. They’re perfectionists. And they’re obsessive about things.” When she looked up again, the smolder in her gaze could’ve set ice on fire.

He could hardly breathe. “You,” he prompted her, his mouth dry. “What are you?”

“Whatever I was when I was born, I’m not that now.” She gave a small shake of her head. “Anyway. I felt a lot better once I knew you were going.”

He took a moment to process this. “But Samir’s going.” He was their best fighter, although Freya, the other Knight with telekinesis, could beat him on her best day. “And Jonathan.” It galled him to say it, since Jonathan was her former lover. But he was more experienced now than Nic, with a string of victories to his name.

“You think through every contingency,” Sophie said. “You’ll be prepared for anything. And you killed two Tribunal with guns without breaking a sweat.”

“I was sweating a lot,” Nic said, because it was true, and because he didn’t know how to deal with the praise.

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Okay, your turn! Go ahead and share an excerpt in the comments…or just let us know how your writing is going, or talk about your upcoming writing plans! Thanks so much for reading!

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