Friday Fun: An Excerpt from The Dance Club

OK, here it is as promised: an unedited excerpt from The Dance Club, the as-yet non-planned-for-publication book based on my adventures at the gym with my girlfriends. Part chick lit, part women's fiction, part nonfiction, all fun to write so far.

Lola leaned over and read aloud. “New dance class starting January tenth. Lose weight and have fun while learning all the hottest Latin steps.” She smiled. “C'mon. let’s try it. We don’t have anything to lose.”

Roxy sighed. “Girls, I’m a friggin’ trainwreck when it comes to dancing. Or anything that requires rhythm and counting. I think I’m gonna skip this one.”

Zoe waved the slip of paper in front of her friend’s face. “C’mon! You’re gonna pass up a chance to spend an hour looking at a hot piece of South American ass? No way. I know you better than that. We all do.”

Roxy frowned. “You think he has an accent? Like one of those really sexy ones where you can’t really understand what he’s saying but it all sounds good anyway?”

Soleil rejoined them and set down her coffee. “He does. I heard him talking to some little redhead in the lobby when I was picking up the flyers.”

“Is it sexy?” Roxy asked. “I mean, really, like, to-die-for sexy?”

Soleil blew on her coffee and smiled. “There’s only one way to find out, right? First class meets next Monday night. What d’ya say?”

###

“Check out the blonde in the front,” Roxy whispered. “What is she, six feet tall? She looks like a giraffe.”

Lola laughed out loud and then slapped a hand over her mouth. “You’re awful.”

“I’m just making an observation.” Roxy turned in a slow circle and surveyed the rest of the room. “And what’s up with the geriatric group in the corner? Damn, I thought I was old.”

“You aren’t old,” Soleil said. “You aren’t even close.” She adjusted her t-shirt and stared woefully at her chest. “I’m having these done the summer I turn forty. I told you all that, right?”

“You’re crazy,” Lola said. “I’ll get a facelift before I’ll get a boob job any day.”

“That’s because you already have boobs.” The voice came from behind them, and all three turned as Zoe skipped into the room.

“I hate you,” Roxy said.

“Why?”

“Look at you.” Lola poked her friend in the ribs. “There’s nothing to you. You’re beautiful. Perfect. You don’t need to lose weight.”

“I need to tone up. Plus I want to see this hot dance instructor.” Zoe glanced around. “Where is he?”

The stocky Chinese woman standing beside them shrugged. A pair of brunettes in matching pink sweatsuits, hoop earrings, and full makeup craned their necks in the direction of the door. A balding man dressed in fatigues and another thirty-something woman with a belly hanging out over too-tight sweatpants made up the rest of the crowd.

“Huh.” Soleil looked around. “Kind of a motley crew, aren’t we?”

“Well, it’s only the first night. And the place has only been open a few weeks. But you were right. It’s nice.” Roxy waved a hand at the polished floorboards and the mirrors that covered three of the four walls. “I’m loving the juice bar in the lobby, too. Think they’d slip a little vodka into one of those smoothies if I paid extra?”

Writers' Wednesday: What Am I Working On?

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." ~Scott Adams

I only have time for a quick post today, but I thought I'd share my 2 current projects (of course, they haven't gotten a lot of attention in the last couple of weeks since it's finals week for the College English classes I teach, which means piles of research papers and in-class essays everywhere calling my name). But beyond the final grade submission deadline, I have 2 glorious weeks of holiday break, and I'm hoping to make some headway on...

Entwined, my literary romance which right now is about 75K words long and really, really needs to be wrapped up and just finished already. It's been just about a year that I've been working on it, and while the end is in sight, I also know it needs some serious revision work beyond that end. Still, I really want to finish the last 10 chapters and then just let it sit for a month or so. Then I can move on to...

The Dance Club, a silly something I started a couple of weeks ago that is based solely on my experiences with my girlfriends at our Zumba class. There are about 5 of us who've become quite close, and they keep asking me to write a book with their/our stories, so I sat down, sketched out some ideas, and started writing. I don't know that I will even try to publish it - it will probably resemble chick lit (which is dead in the publishing world) or maybe women's fiction (which still has a chance). Either way, it's just for them, and I'm having fun at this point, only 5K words in. Friday I'll post an excerpt...until then, have a great week!

Monday Mentionables: From a Cat's Perspective

"Time spent with cats is never wasted." ~Sigmund Freud

My owner, Allie Boniface, is taking a break from blogging today, so I told her I'd fill in for her. I mean, I've been around for over 14 years, and I've lived with her for 13 of those 14, so I have a pretty good idea of what she'd say, anyway. But today, I'd like to talk about why it's good to be a cat around the holidays...

First of all, if you have the chance to get a brand new scratching device of any kind, take full advantage of it. Make sure to lick your chops several times (yes, that's my tongue hanging out) before tasting it for fresh catnip.

And just in case your owner is not particularly quick at adding catnip, you can meow and wind yourself around her legs to remind her why it's your FAVORITE treat EVER.

It is especially invigorating to dig right in and sharpen those claws...

Though if a friend comes along and wants to try it out too, it's okay to let him. Just keep an eye on him.

Sometimes, in fact, those friends can be quite comforting and warm, especially when the temperatures get a little frosty! That's when it's best to remember the advantages of cuddling.

Finally, don't ever underestimate your importance when it comes to interior decorating. I have given several pieces of advice regarding the tree over the years - and as you can see by looking closely here, this year I needed to sit atop the ladder while my owners were hanging the lights to really have my say.

Guess that's all for today. Time for a nap in the sun...