In case you haven't heard, Brenda Drake is having a blogfest/contest. It not to late to enter if you haven't already.
Here are the first 250 words from my YA contemporary novel, Still.
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A memory from last summer assaults me. Being dragged along the damp forest ground. Branches digging into my bare legs. The darkness suffocating me.
“At least you know better than to go off with a stranger, right?” Dad pulls me back to the present, my heart still crashing against my chest. He’s sitting across the table from me while the TV news reporter blabs on about the seventeen-year-old who went missing last month. Still no leads.
“Right.” The lie slips out before I can stop it. All I want to do is escape to my room and pretend I have no clue what the girl might be feeling. Instead, I push the remainder of my tofu casserole around the plate, fighting against the memory.
Mom cuts her broccoli into pieces. “Do you remember my friend Amy Platter?” A hopeful smile breaks on her face. Something about it makes me squirm. Like she knows whatever she’s planning to tell me, I’m going to hate.
My eyes dart to the kitchen door. What are the chances I can make a break for it without her stopping me? I mean really, what’s she going to do, trip me?
“Well,” she continues when it’s obvious I’m not going to answer, “Amy suggested that maybe you and her daughter, Abby, could train together this summer to get ready for the tryouts. What do you think?”
I stab at a carrot. “Not interested,” I say in an overly sweet voice.
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I currently have fulls and partials out, but I've made some changes to the beginning based on suggestions from the Secret Agent during last month's MSFV contest. I would love some feedback before I start querying again with the new start. :)