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What Kit Wrote Next - Sampler As you’ll know from my blogpost, presented below are the openings of five projects I’ve either completed first drafts of, or have created around the first 10,000 words for, and I’m going to let lucky you decide which one I work on next, and which will form the background for my ongoing series of blogposts about the process and experiences of writing and publishing a novel. I won’t say too much about the plots of each, as those can change with the process of writing or revising, and the openings you’ll find below haven’t been tidied or even fully checked through for a first pass in all cases, but they should give you a good flavour of what the options are. There may be some e-formatting issues with one of them too but that’s a publishing challenge for if you happen to pick that one. There is naturally some overlap in style, but I’ve chosen options distinct enough for you to hopefully be able to decide which one you’d like to see written, read, and watch the process and challenges it presents. I’ll eventually complete all of these, but whichever the poll I’ll set up shows is the favourite will be my next to work on (if not the next to publication). I like the idea of knowing that you’ll be interested in the blogging process for one of these, and that will give me an extra incentive to keep doing them, and knowing you’re on the journey with me will make writing a bit less of a lonely process. At some point I’ll have some Q and A sessions too, so you can ask me about anything that you pick up, and can even throw in suggestions if you feel the urge. Please do join my newsletter to find out which option the poll picks (after you’ve voted… natch)! Poll available at https://kitderrick.com/influences/ 2 Contents The Options ................................................................................................. 4 Love isn’t ...................................................................................................... 6 Hope is a six letter word .............................................................................. 14 Letters to Soloman ..................................................................................... 20 Brf NCountr w a Nok 3310 .......................................................................... 24 Boiling Metal ............................................................................................... 33 3 The Options Love Isn’t : The story of five friends, all in their mid-twenties, and the convoluted dynamic resulting from their hidden lives and not so hidden desires. Set in the centre of Manchester, the novel shows the lives of a clique of University friends who have now grown up, told primarily from the vantage point of Kate, a romantic who tries to help all her friends, but finds herself helpless. The few days of the novel bring long hidden secrets to the fore, and there aren’t any happy endings to the revelations. As Kate discovers, this is real life and things don’t always work out as you’d hope. Hope is Six Letter Word : William Stark liked to sketch. And when his parents died unexpectedly in a car crash, he had inherited a substantial windfall. On a whim, Will decided to buy a battered old Ford Cortina and travel around to draw all the places that held special memories from his past. William didn’t expect the journey to change him, but neither did he expect a girl who spoke no English to climb into his car one midnight and fall asleep in his arms. He didn’t expect to be sat on an island and crying, holding her picture forty years later. Letters to Soloman: Jennifer travels to a little village in Wales, not to get away because of a breakup you understand, she’s very clear about that, but to see a musician she’d heard was playing there. While there, she meets Lawrence, an Irish performance poet who tells such compelling Celtic fables of lost love, it must have been fate that they met. But she knows nothing about him, and nor, Jennifer discovers, do his landlady or the lawyer holding his will after his sudden and tragic death. Soloman, by the way, is the stuffed bear she’s had since she were a little girl, who she could confide in, and send postcards and letters to when she needs a friend. Brf NCountr w a Nok 3310: In days gone by, flirtations and affairs were a more physical thing. When Tiffany reconnects with old boyfriend Martin, the wonders of the mobile phone mean they don’t actually have to actually meet up, and the short messages and strangeness of these new ‘emoticons’ 4 means so much more is open to interpretations. Far from being less romantic, a dalliance like this can be thrilling, and far more convenient than having to actually ‘be your chosen persona’ 24/7, or wear make-up. It’s also much easier to be daring remotely, which might not be a good thing. Boiling Metal “‘The Event’, which is all we call it now, happened on April 1st, which I only know because in the early days, we almost laughed at that. I couldn’t even tell you the actual year exactly. Not that it matters now, why would it?” This dystopian science fiction novel starts with the day that every form of metal on Earth instantaneously boiled to nothing, throwing the World into chaos. The implications are far more far-reaching than you might imagine, and a post-apocalyptic world is nothing like you read about in books or see in movies. 5 Love isn’t Chp 1 - Morning Fletcher moaned and slowly peeled his eyelids apart. He let out a low groan which tailed off as a dull pounding began to resonate around the back of his skull, a dull thumping echo of his voice. The hazy world around Fletcher Davis came gradually into focus and he found his head resting sideways on an unfamiliar pillow. He became aware that he was staring straight into the sparkling and expectant green eyes of a beautiful young woman. Fletcher closed and scrunched his eyes tight, momentarily disorientated. He felt his pulse beating fast against the cotton sheets, as his mind raced around looking for clues. He felt his own head shake in an attempt to clear the fogginess of the previous night’s drinking. Suddenly, Fletcher's bright blue eyes snapped open and his perfect lips spread into a wide grin, exposing his gleaming white (except for one small filling) pearly teeth. A voice spread out from his larynx, flowed across the duvet and soothingly enveloped the girl with a warm and undulating tonality. “Morning honey..." The girl's own grin and lipstick smudged teeth beamed back happily. “Mor...nin’ Fletch." She slowly allowed her still made-up eyes to blink closed and stretched her whole body lazily and catlike, allowing her hands to slide lovingly down the back of her long chestnut hair and rest around the nape of her neck. Fletcher grinned again and swept back the black cotton duvet, slipping his legs onto the floor and rotating his neck through three long and exquisite revolutions, creating a low cracking sound four times in the process. He turned, leaned over and kissed the girl lightly on the lips. “Coffee..?" “Mmmmn..." 6 She opened her eyes again and watched his well-toned body rise and walk over towards the door, wonderfully naked. His skin was smooth and pale against the dark paintwork. She softly bit her bottom lip as he turned out of the doorway and disappeared. The girl let her eyelids flutter shut and sighed softly. “ahhhhhemm." The girl glanced up at the sound of his throat. Fletcher stood in the doorway facing her, stark naked, his hands resting flat on the side frames. She tried desperately to keep her eyes locked onto his and not to look down. Fletcher smiled apologetically. “Where's your kitchen?" # “She never was!" “I'm telling you... she was a dyke." “But what about her and... coffee please." Kate smiled flirtatiously, raised her chin and batted her lashes mid-phrase at the smart young waiter. “...Andrew." “Look, that was for two weeks, and no I don't know why she went with him at all, but yes, she was definitely a dyke." “Please... the word is lesbian." Tracey let her expression twist into a wry but deliberately patronising smile as she turned momentarily to Suzanne. “... whatever..." She turned back to Kate. “But she was definitely gay. You could tell" Tracey turned her profile slightly away from Suzanne, and winked at Kate. “…and she went to public school. All girl's public school mind…" Tracey's voice caressed and lingered on and around the last phrase. “What? That's just... that doesn't mean... I mean, I went to public school but I'm not... you know... just because it was single sex doesn't mean I'm not... she's not... not one of 'them'." 7 Tracey sipped at her coffee to hide the smirk on her face as she watched Suzanne's face colour a deep crimson. “A dyke?" asked Kate. “Lesbian." corrected Tracey smoothly. “Whatever... Just because someone goes to school in a place where there aren't any boys doesn't mean... I mean she wasn't necessarily, and I'm certainly not... and never was..." Suzanne's voice tailed off as her chin fell lower and her eyeline disappeared towards her black patent heels. Tracey couldn't hold her breath any longer and spluttered her coffee back into the cup. Kate joined her with an infectious giggle. Suzanne raised her head up slowly. “Bitch." “Always honey." Tracey took a large bite of her croissant and reached into her purse for cigarettes.

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