Plotz Bunniez - I HAZ THEM!!
I know I promised a synopsis and excerpt last weekend...but time has a way of getting away from all of us. *cough* That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!! :P
I’m currently in the middle of selling my house - I hope. I got an offer for it on June 30th; I finally signed off on the documents last week (Thursday), and the inspection is this Thursday (the 11th). I’ll find out after that if the deal is going to go through (nibbles fingernails). Which means I’ve been half-heartedly cleaning and packing, but if it’s confirmed then that will be pushed into high gear - along with apartment hunting, and making arrangements of movers, cleaners and garbage guys. With a possession date of August 13th, that I should have lots of time (but very little money), so it’s going to be a very interesting few weeks!!
In other news, I also had a meet-and-greet interview with an employment agency to be added to their roster. So I’ll hopefully have some work coming my way too...eventually. ;D
*flails like Kermit the Frog*
Anyway...on the writing side of things, I should have been focused on writing the sequel to A Life Less Ordinary. I have about 20,000 words written and almost a hundred scenes “mapped” out/identified. Which is really weird for me, because I don’t plot!! Although “plot” may be too strong a word...they’re more like a list of “OH, and then Zeke/Manny have THIS conversation, and Rebecca does THAT, and then Daisy does THE OTHER THING, and after that...” LOL I so want to know what happens to these characters!
But I’ve been attacked by Plot Bunny of Unusual Size, and it’s all Nathan Fillion’s fault!! Damn those puppy eyes! I’d shake my fist in his general direction, but he’d turn that kicked puppy look on me and then I’d melt and then...
...um...sorry...I got a little distracted there...
*ahem*
Anyway, the Plot Bunny of Unusual Size has been dominating my writing life lately...hopefully it’s going to be a good story. I’m madly in love with all the characters so far, so I guess that’s a good sign! LOL
Synopsis:
Benjamin Ferrin Macon-Jones has it all: comfortable wealth, minor celebrity and mild notoriety due to his family name, and an intelligent, accomplished, ambitious woman who loves him as much as he loves her...until the day that same woman refuses his marriage proposal, tells him he’s a detriment to her career, and leaves him. Reeling from the rejection and unable to cope with his cantankerous family trying to be sensitive, Ferrin makes the decision to take some time away from everyone and everything, and quietly fades into the Canadian countryside.
Lou Upjohn is dealing with problems of her own. She’s a recluse and agoraphobic, staying safely within the walls of her family home in a small town in Saskatchewan. Now her only link to the outside world, her childhood friend and love of her life, Ike, has married another woman and they’re moving to Vancouver. Before he leaves, Ike hires the new guy in town, Ferrin Jones, to run her errands and do her yard work. Lou isn’t happy, but she has to admit the stranger looks mildly interesting...and very sad.
Both their lives might be changed forever, if Lou can only find the courage to open the door.
Excerpt - Scene between Ike and Ferrin:
Ike sipped his own coffee, and said, "Let me try this again." He shook his head, closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is what Lou does to a person," he muttered.
"Lou?"
Ike nodded. "That's the job I wanted to talk to you about."
"Lou."
Ike laughed. "I'm sorry - really." He leaned across the table, hands clasped in front of him. "Lou’s a childhood friend, and the town recluse. Hermit." He grimaced. "Nut job. Whatever you want to call it."
"You’re a friend?"
Ike hesitated, then shrugged. “Yes, but I'm not blind - or deaf. I know what people say. Anyway," he waved a hand, "Lou's a recluse. Never leaves the house. I run errands, cut the grass, deliver groceries, do general maintenance, that sort of thing. I want to hire you to do those things from now on - or as long as you're in town."
"Tired of doing it?"
A genuine smile curved Ike’s lips. "I got married six weeks ago. We're moving to Vancouver, and...well, someone needs to take care of Lou."
"So a total stranger is your best bet? Doesn't this...Lou...have any other friends?"
"Just me. And I've tried to find somebody else." Ike leaned back and glanced around the coffee shop. There was a decent mid-afternoon crowd, and about a dozen people at tables or standing in line.
"Hey!" he called. "Does anyone want to work for Lou?"
There was a pause, then the room exploded with laughter and the echo of "hell, no!"
Ike turned back to Ferrin and shrugged his shoulders.
"You're not really selling the job," Ferrin said drily.
"You seem to be down on your luck," Ike said. "I'm willing to pay you-" and he mentioned a sum that made Ferrin's eyebrows shoot up.
"Trust me," Ike said, "you'll earn every penny of it...if Lou decides to interact with you, that is, and that's highly unlikely."
"So how will I know what he wants me to do?"
"She'll leave you notes in the mailbox. I'll still be taking care of her finances, like I've always done, and I'll make sure you're paid."
"She?"
"Yes." He leaned forward again. "Juan says you're a good guy, even if a little distant. Honest. Trustworthy." He smiled fleetingly. "He's also very observant."
Ferrin frowned. "And what if I say no?"
Ike leaned back and sighed tiredly. He spread his hands and shrugged. "I'll have to come back from Vancouver more regularly than I'd planned. Or she'll have to finally face the world or starve."
Ferrin drummed his fingers on the table, and he could hear, once again, Olivia telling him he was gullible. There was something wrong, Ferrin thought, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. And judging from the crowd's reaction to Ike's question, there was a real person hiding behind the doors of her house, a real person who was friendless and alone.
He heard Olivia call him a sucker again, and he ruthlessly shut the memory away.
He nodded. "Okay, Ike, I'll do it."
Ike grinned as they shook hands.
Maybe he was making a mistake, Ferrin thought, but it was his mistake to make. Olivia was out of his life, and he would not allow her past opinion to define his future.
OMG - I’m so in love with these characters…*huggles them all*
Next up: Character and cast list! :P