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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Tuesday Teaser


I have another teaser today!! A little background: Erik has been arrested for possession of alcohol and his father decided some time in the slammer would be good for him. Just as a warning, there's a bit of swearing in this one. 

“Cookies have crumbs.”

I break off a bit of cookie – the last one.

“Rats like crumbs.”

I dip the cookie into a box of rat poison that Wiggins has kindly left me.

“This is why Erik has become The Pied Piper, calling for rats instead of enjoying the cookies himself.”

I throw the bit of cookie towards the urinal where I last saw the rat disappear into a hole in the wall.

I sigh and lean back. “Fucker could have at least left me some tape to cover the damn hole.”

Slim snores on the cot opposite mine. He was nearly passed out when he staggered in a couple hours ago so I haven’t had the chance to ask him anything. Not sure if I want to either. Right now, I can’t imagine Slim having anything good to say that would change my opinion about the son of a bitch who I call my father.

I hear the rat before he emerges - hard little taps of his nails against the concrete. There’s a slippery little squeal of glee when he spies the poison-laced cookie. I keep still when I see his flashlight eyes flicker back and forth. He scampers forward, and I scoot my butt up to the edge of the cot, so that I can see him take the cookie. 

He doesn’t.

My chest aches as I contemplate what I’m going to have to do. The rat is getting closer to Slim, could eat his fucking ear off and the old man would never wake up unless I intervene. I’m tired, and if I don’t kill this rat now I’ll be falling asleep on top of my math test tomorrow. 

I inch forward slowly as the rat explores his meatier prey. He stands on his hind legs, sniffing the air. 

I get ready. 

He scampers away, but I leap in front of him. He dodges to the left, and I slam my knee against Slim’s cot trying to follow. The drunk grumbles and rolls over, still asleep, but the rat is cornered now.  The only way to get back to his hole is to go past me. He thinks he’s faster, so he comes forward. 

My boot is ready.

There’s a crunch as I smash his head. This is followed by the ear-splitting squeal of a dying animal.

Slim snores again.

I grind my heel against the rat’s neck, feeling my belly roll at the bony-squishiness. I kick the twitching carcass to the corner next to his skeletal friend, and then lean against the wall, waiting for my heart to slow, my breathing to ease.

I stare through the bars and out the window.

My throat burns from unshed tears.

I told Matt that you decide before you do something whether you’re prepared to face the consequences. And I was, but it doesn’t change the fact that I wouldn’t be in here if my father weren’t such an asshole. He left me in here, with fucking rats. And he hasn’t even had the decency to call or stop in to check on me. 

I slide to the floor and draw my knees up. I rest my head in my arms and rock from side to side, thinking I can contain it. But I can’t. I’m weak. 

He hates me. 

My father hates me.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Books of March

Howdy hi ho!! I have good news. I finished my first draft of Rum Runners!! My plan is to put it through one round of revisions and hopefully have it off to beta readers by May 1. It's doable. Totally. In the meantime, here's my reading list for March. Let me know what you've read!

20. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor* I admit that it took me a while to get into this one, but once I did I really loved it. Though, the ending kind of left me with my mouth hanging open. How very very cruel. The world building was fantastico and I'd definitely recommend it.
21. Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr* Finally I am done with this series! I always feel like Melissa Marr's books involve a lot of talk and little action, though I really love all of her description. For those who have read the rest of the series, I do feel like the ending was a bit too convenient. I felt like, whoa, if that was possible then why go through ALL of this (4 books) to get to that point. I kind of wonder if I'm the only one who felt that way.
22. Legend by Marie Lu** Another slow starter, but somewhere around the middle I got so caught up in this one that I couldn't stop reading. If a book gives me chills then I have to give it 5 stars and this one definitely chilled me.
23. Wherever Nina Lies * Not AT ALL what I was expecting. I need to stop skimming cover blurbs because I really thought this was going to be a different sort of book than it turned out to be, and that sort of ruined the read for me. I did love the voice and I think if you don't go into it so blindly then readers can be prone to love it. I guess this was a case of totally MY fault that I didn't like as much as I could have.
24. How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr ** New favorite author alert!!! I loved this book so much. It felt so real and heartbreaking. I wanted to just take the characters and hug them to death. I can't wait to dive into some more books by this author.
25. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan* I felt just a tiny bit out of place reading it because these characters are so far removed from my world. Though I LOVED the premise of a town/community/school that was so open to all different things.

26. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin There was plenty that irritated me about this one. Stereotypical beginning - new school, bitchy girls, LI that is so hot! But he's a jerk! But he's so hot! I wanted it to die a tiny death at points. And slow. And then the whole premise of whether this was real or not when you KNOW that it is (the first scene completely gives it away). *sigh* I really wish the ending hadn't gone and gotten so good because up until about 20 pages to the end I had no desire to read the sequel, but now... Basically I don't recommend the book even though I plan to read the sequel myself. I know, contradictory much?? Hmmm....
27. Zombie Tag by Hannah Moskowitz Fun little read though the middle was too slow for my taste. Not enough action for a MG book about zombies, but my son is reading it so I guess he will be the deciding factor. Hannah does do MG boy voice very well though. I do hand it to her for that.
28. There Is No Dog by Meg Rosoff* FUNNY! Well, the beginning was. I wanted the characters to change more than they did (or maybe in a different way) so it was a bit of a disappointment. But still, the first few chapters are just hilarious.

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