FSoF scribble - Stacy at work
Author's note: This is something that's been in my head since Sonya suggested a title for the original story that's been kicking about my head. :P Depending on how things go in FSoF, I may or may not include this in an actual chapter. If I don't, I'll probably keep it as an omake. Either way, hope y'all enjoy.
------------------------------
I tuck the loose hairs that refuse to be held by my ponytail back behind my ear, make a show of cracking my knuckles (only I maybe get one actual crack; I don't know how to crack my knuckles properly), and open the first manuscript file.
The title is Ace of Hearts, and according to the author's blurb it's the story of a heteroromantic asexual college student struggling to come to terms with his sexuality ("or lack thereof," the author notes) and the impacts on his life by the people around him. He's also hoping for a partner who will accept him for who he is, all while trying to handle the new environment of being in college in a town far away from home.
Well, the premise is definitely interesting. I'm only hoping that it won't turn into one of those stories where the main character's sole goal is to get hooked up.
I open a separate Word document beneath the window of the manuscript, so I can type my thoughts as I read. I'll translate the notes into something more coherent for Jack when I finish chapter four.
~~
I go to take another drink from my water bottle, only to find that the bottle's empty. Didn't I just open it? Frowning some in confusion, I check the time. Then I press ctrl+home to get to the top of my notes document so I can see what I had written down as my starting time. Wow, has it really been an hour? What page am I on? My eye twitches some in half-amazement, half-consternation as Word informs me I've gone through fifty-four pages. My notes add that I've gone past my self-imposed four-chapter limit, as I'm in chapter six.
Talk about being in the zone.
Well, this is a good enough reason to take a break. I get up to refill my bottle and let my mind think about the story.
It's definitely pulled me in, and I'm feeling I have more than a vested interest in Jay, the main character. Poor guy's trying to get used to the sudden and immense freedom of being out from under his conservative parents' house and away from their traditional views of what's expected of a man. At the same time, he's never had this much freedom and he's bouncing between the extremes of paralysis and no-holds-barred. He's fortunately got a good friend in Rachel, who gives him both a willing ear and the occasional slap upside the head when he needs it.
Romance definitely isn't the driving point of the story; if anything, it feels more incidental in the face of all of the other challenges of college - making friends and making the time to hang out with them, handling classes and homework, gleefully reveling in the fact parental contact is limited to email and phone, and not getting lost between the dorms and the actual classroom buildings on an expansive campus.
I tap my finger against my filled water bottle as I head back to my desk. To be honest, the romance angle could probably be expanded a little more. It doesn't have to overshadow everything, but do people really care that a TA's accent makes it really hard to understand what's being discussed when they go over the homework? I'm more curious about how his being asexual is affecting the college experience, since his mom is carping on how he's never even tried to get a girlfriend and how is she going to get grandbabies if he keeps turning up his nose at wonderful girls? Is he GAY??
The thought makes me remember the interview with Grey, and I cringe.
------------------------------
I tuck the loose hairs that refuse to be held by my ponytail back behind my ear, make a show of cracking my knuckles (only I maybe get one actual crack; I don't know how to crack my knuckles properly), and open the first manuscript file.
The title is Ace of Hearts, and according to the author's blurb it's the story of a heteroromantic asexual college student struggling to come to terms with his sexuality ("or lack thereof," the author notes) and the impacts on his life by the people around him. He's also hoping for a partner who will accept him for who he is, all while trying to handle the new environment of being in college in a town far away from home.
Well, the premise is definitely interesting. I'm only hoping that it won't turn into one of those stories where the main character's sole goal is to get hooked up.
I open a separate Word document beneath the window of the manuscript, so I can type my thoughts as I read. I'll translate the notes into something more coherent for Jack when I finish chapter four.
~~
I go to take another drink from my water bottle, only to find that the bottle's empty. Didn't I just open it? Frowning some in confusion, I check the time. Then I press ctrl+home to get to the top of my notes document so I can see what I had written down as my starting time. Wow, has it really been an hour? What page am I on? My eye twitches some in half-amazement, half-consternation as Word informs me I've gone through fifty-four pages. My notes add that I've gone past my self-imposed four-chapter limit, as I'm in chapter six.
Talk about being in the zone.
Well, this is a good enough reason to take a break. I get up to refill my bottle and let my mind think about the story.
It's definitely pulled me in, and I'm feeling I have more than a vested interest in Jay, the main character. Poor guy's trying to get used to the sudden and immense freedom of being out from under his conservative parents' house and away from their traditional views of what's expected of a man. At the same time, he's never had this much freedom and he's bouncing between the extremes of paralysis and no-holds-barred. He's fortunately got a good friend in Rachel, who gives him both a willing ear and the occasional slap upside the head when he needs it.
Romance definitely isn't the driving point of the story; if anything, it feels more incidental in the face of all of the other challenges of college - making friends and making the time to hang out with them, handling classes and homework, gleefully reveling in the fact parental contact is limited to email and phone, and not getting lost between the dorms and the actual classroom buildings on an expansive campus.
I tap my finger against my filled water bottle as I head back to my desk. To be honest, the romance angle could probably be expanded a little more. It doesn't have to overshadow everything, but do people really care that a TA's accent makes it really hard to understand what's being discussed when they go over the homework? I'm more curious about how his being asexual is affecting the college experience, since his mom is carping on how he's never even tried to get a girlfriend and how is she going to get grandbabies if he keeps turning up his nose at wonderful girls? Is he GAY??
The thought makes me remember the interview with Grey, and I cringe.