Work in Progress—My Next Novel

After finishing Second Chance, I began writing my second novel, or rather, another story. I have been working on a story for a long time. Long before Second Chance even existed about Kazu and June (I am still working on this story). I used the summary for their story in Second Chance to describe one of Jae’s Korean drama series, Sweet Lullaby.

My handy book

I keep a composition book which I write all sorts of things in it, including story ideas, quotes, and inspirations from everyday events. However mundane my day could be, my mind would be reeling with ideas. It is especially uneventful days which allow me to day dream. Having an available book to capture all those thoughts can come in handy for later when I can sit down to write.

One of the best advice I remember (I don’t remember where I got the advice from) is to just write. Write whatever comes to mind then edit later. This works well because whatever I don’t use for one story, I can use for another story. And I don’t delete anything I cut from my story. I keep them in a separate file of “extras” in case I need it again or I change my mind on the change.

Not only do I reuse some of the ideas I originally have, I recycle them. Romance is: girl meets boy, they fall in love, things got in the way, they either lived happily ever after or they don’t. This story is recycled over and over in the stories we read today. With that said, I never get tire of the variations I have read and the creativity authors have devised are phenomenal!

For example:

Original:

“Damn you! Damn you to hell! We didn't fit,” she hissed. “Now we do? Nine years ago you asked me to be your wife and now you’re asking me to be your whore? For a week? Not even a lifetime?” All her energy drained and she looked at him warily. She opened her mouth to say more but all that came to mind was words she couldn't bring herself to say. Every unflattering name in the world, every curse and cuss she knew—it was pointless. “What you’re offering is not enough. Not enough to heal the hurt or take away the pain…” She trailed off. “Go home, Jae.”

Final:

“We didn't fit,” she hissed. “Now you want a week of my time? Years ago, you asked me to be your wife and now you’re asking me to be your whore? For a week?” She smirked bitterly. “What you’re offering is not enough. Not enough to heal the hurt or take away the pain.” She trail off. “Go home, Jae. We don’t fit. So don’t make this any harder than it has to be. We said goodbye … good luck, to each other years ago.” All her energy drained and she looked at him wearily. “I was getting so good at living. Why do you have to remind me of what I lost?”

Damn you! Damn you to hell! was cut from the final version because I found use for it in another story:

"Damn you. Damn you, Phillip Hamilton! What are you expecting? That I'll say I love you, too... And we'll go into the sunset and live happily ever after? Well, screw you!" She wiped her tears. "What...what am I suppose to..." 

Here's what I've been working on. It's a rough draft. 

Part I

Chapter 1: Phillip

     Nouly Yang glanced at her watch. Ten more minutes. Just ten more minutes and she would meet Phillip Hamilton. Has it only been a week since she contacted him? Fifteen years since her mother’s death. Three weeks since she decided to go on this journey and ten more minutes to wait. Time was ticking.

Out of desperation, she had posted an advertisement requesting for an escort into the heart of Thailand and Laos. On Craigslist of all places.

     Nouly clenched her backpack. She paced back and forth outside of French Meadow café at the Minneapolis/St. Paul international airport, biting every part of her lips. She checked her watch, did a quick 180 degrees survey, hoping he was the early type, but she saw no one. She returned to biting her lips and hugged her backpack tighter, mumbling the reason for this ridiculous journey. She corrected herself. Not a ridiculous journey; it’s a ridiculously dangerous journey. She prayed Phillip Hamilton wasn’t some psychotic murdering maniac. He was the only person who responded. The only one who accepted her offer of five-thousand dollars for the job.

     Nouly glanced at her watch, again. She smiled at the stars in her watch. They scattered and collected at 6 o’clock. Five more minutes. She turned around and ran straight into some man.

     “I’m so sorry,” Nouly said.

     “You must be Miss Yang?” the man said.

     She backed up to look up at the man. A handsome Asian man stared down at her. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

     “Not yet.” He smiled.

     Nouly saw a muscular white man walking her way and excused herself from the handsome stranger. She smiled and waited to greet Phillip Hamilton. The man walked passed her without a backward glance. Her smile slowly faded as the man continued to walk away. He didn’t look like he was looking for anyone. Her hopes faded as the man greeted another. She let her shoulders drop as she glanced at her watch again.

“Please don’t be late. Please don’t be late,” she mumbled to herself. She turned to continue her pacing and found the handsome stranger watching her. She stopped. He knew her name.

     “Phillip…Hamilton?” she asked, hesitant.

     “Phil, please,” the handsome stranger said, extending his right hand for a shake.

     She slightly cocked her head, scowling. “Am I being punked?”

     “No…”

     Her eyes stung. “Excuse me,” she muttered and side stepped around him to walk away. Damn Pa! The only person she told of her endeavor and look how it back fired. Never trust them. Never, ever trust them.

     She should have learned by now. She should have never said a word. Even if it meant disappearing from earth and no one would know.They wouldn’t care anyway.

     She sat at her gate and squeezed her backpack. She would go with or without help. It would just be harder. She stopped strangling her backpack to wipe her cheeks. Boarding for her flight was announced and she took a shuddering breath as she struggled to take out the tickets.

     “One for me?”

     “Look. Phillip Hamilton. You can tell Pa about my humiliation. Hell, tell her I cried my eyes out. Frankly, I don’t give a damn. Laugh it out with her, or whoever. I have a flight to catch.”

     “Look. Miss Yang. I came here for a job. If you are punking me, I want the money you promised and the reimbursement for my ticket here.”

     Nouly stopped in her track. Once she was able to compose herself, she turned to face Phillip. She stared at him until she heard another announcement for boarding. She bit her lower lip and scrutinized him a minute or two longer.

     Phillip Hamilton did not look like a Phillip Hamilton. She had pictured him to be Caucasian at least. The man in front of her was not what she had pictured. He was Asian. Thai? His emails said he was fluent in Thai and Laotian. But he could also be Chinese? Japanese? The list goes on. It didn't matter to her. Only that she now felt foolish. She sighed and decided what the heck. “I believe I emailed stating I’ll pay when the job is done,” she said.

     Phillip nodded.

     “In that case, here’s your ticket.”

     “Are we going to have a problem?”

     “No, no problem.”

     “Are you sure? Because I don’t have any patience for tears.”

     Nouly reflexively brought a hand to her cheek, ready to wipe away the anguish that had inflicted her for only God knows how long. Had more tears fell with her not knowing? Was she still crying? To her great relief, it was not so. She let her hand fell. “Don’t worry, Phillip. I promise the tears you saw are the last you’d ever see.”

     “Good and, please, call me Phil.”

     Nouly nodded and said no more as they boarded their flight to Thailand. (End of excerpt)

Remember, it's a rough draft so lots could change by the time I publish. It's time to shop for another cover and a title!