Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Animal Cracker - another excerpt

Countdown to publication of Animal Cracker, my comedic novel set in a pet shelter, that debuts in just a few weeks. To whet your appetite, here's another excerpt. Scroll down to read two more.

I headed to the lunchroom for some late-morning mud. Who was this? Philosophy major/would-be rock star/poet judging from the milky pallor, height of around 5’6,' black geeky/cool rock star glasses, and a hairline inching backwards. Andrew in everything but hair.
“Where’s the sugar around here?” he asked as he poured some java into an APA mug featuring our logo and a trio of basset hounds.
I obligingly opened the cabinet above the sink, inquiring “One envelope or two?”
He took three, saying “It’s gotta taste like coffee ice cream.”
“Hey, me too,” I replied.
“So, I guess you work here?”
“Writer in residence. PR, brochures, stuff like that. You?”
“Actually, I write too. Working on a novel.”
“Starving artist.”
He laughed. “I manage to put food on the table.”
“All legally, I hope.”
He laughed. His teeth resembled perfectly formed Chiclets.
“ Since I left Colgate junior year, I’ve been lifeguarding, bartending, rewriting unintelligible Japanese appliance manuals.”
“You sure have lots of variety in your day.”
“You could look at it that way. I look at it as a bunch of checks.”
I took a slug of coffee.
“So, what’s your interest in APA?” I asked.
“My dad works here. I’m picking him up for lunch.”
“Really? What department?”
“Actually, he’s the big gun. You know, Hal?”
Nothing came out of my mouth.
“You look like you just swallowed a bug.”
“I did, I did.”
But of course he was Hal’s son. He had his eyes, though the mouth definitely hailed from the Joyce side of the family.
Let’s take inventory here. My boss’s son appeared to be flirting with me.. A boss about whom I was starting to harbor some serious doubts. Rule Number One in that great workplace manual in the sky: No dating the boss.* *Or his offspring.
“I’m Diane Salvi, the Communications Director.”
“Mark Mason.”
“Well, I guess I must go do some communicating,” I said, giving him a cute little grin. Yikes, was I actually sorta, kinda interested in a man?
I texted Genie.
guy in lunchroom flirted with me, semi-adorkable. p.s. he’s hal’s son.
She texted back, You finally show an interest in someone and that’s who you pick???? Stay away.
I let my imagination take a brief and unexpected stroll down romance lane, picturing Mark and me ambling along the Esplanade on a warm spring day, arms entwined. Dining in a candlelit North End Italian trattoria. I told my fantasies to take a hike, played a quick game of online Boggle, and probably would’ve played a few more had Betty not interrupted me to reschedule my next meeting with, who else, Mark’s father.

15 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed the excerpt and I will definitely look forward to reading the book. Congratulations and cheers to much success :)

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  2. All the best with this book.

    Sounds like an exciting journey.

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  3. I hired a formatter to get my book on Amazon for Kindle and B&N for Nook, and published in January. Haven't decided whether to hold my breath and try CreateSpace to make a soft cover. Was it difficult? Your book sounds as cute as a puppy.

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  4. Hi Andi:

    This is Elizabeth from Silver's Reviews. We just connected via Twitter.

    Cute blog. Mine is a book blog.

    Good luck with your book.

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Blog

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  5. Hi Andi,

    Thank you for the follow! I enjoyed the excerpt as well-- very intriguing! The voice of your protagonist is hilarious :)

    As an aside, I really appreciate the tremendous insight provided in your blog about publishing, self-publishing and all the other realms of authorship. Thank you for that. I would love to hear more about your experiences with the literary agents. How do you even start that? I have to actually *finish* something before I even begin to worry about that, but I am still curious, lol. Thanks again and have a great day!

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    1. Glad you've enjoyed what you've read so far.
      Literary agents: First you have to identify the appropriate agents for your work. In other words I researched agents who rep contemporary women’s fiction. The best way to find agents is to subscribe to Publishers Marketplace. I think it’s $20 a month. Then you can search deals and see which agents have sold your kind of book. Another good trick is to read the acknowledgments at the back of books similar to yours; authors often thank their agents.

      Then you have to find the agent’s website and see how they like to be approached. Some (few these days) want a snail mail letter, most prefer online. Then you have to see what they want. Some just want a query letter (a letter describing your book – you can find out formats by just googling query letter and some good examples should pop up) some also want plot synopses and/or sample chapters.

      Hope this is a good start. Good luck.

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  6. Great premise for a book. I enjoyed the excerpt and will follow your blog to monitor your success. Best of luck.

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  7. Hey, sounds like a great book! I look forward to buying it, and reading more from your blog. Congrats on your successes, and thanks for sharing the knowledge!

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  8. Hi andi, I hesitantly followed your link from Twitter expecting a graphic novel/comic book based on your description as 'comic novel'. I was pleasantly surprised to find a cute contemporary fiction about an female employees work and relationships set in an animal shelter. I think you would get more interest if you advertised (on Twitter) the book with your characters' names in the forefront, and mention that it's about their lives, not just the shelter. I am a big supporter now and I know you could get more traffic with a few tweaks. <3 @Meatcats

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  9. Love the excerpts!! Hilarious!! Totally gonna buy the book and spread the word!!

    @GingersFund

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  10. Hi thanks for following me on twitter. In my other life when I make it out of the kitchen (3mbakery.com), I love to read. (https://www.goodreads.com/profile/Judif and http://www.shelfari.com/judif)
    I've read and enjoyed your excerpt from Animal Cracker. I'm eagerly awaiting your published book. I'll continue to follow your progress on twitter and writerscramp88.

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  11. Hi thanks for following @3mbakery on twitter. In my other life when I make it out of the kitchen (3mbakery.com), I love to read. (https://www.goodreads.com/profile/Judif and http://www.shelfari.com/judif)
    I've read and enjoyed your excerpt from Animal Cracker. I'm eagerly awaiting your published book. I'll continue to follow your progress on twitter and writerscramp88.

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  12. Hi thanks for following @3mbakery on twitter. In my other life when I make it out of the kitchen (3mbakery.com), I love to read. (https://www.goodreads.com/profile/Judif and http://www.shelfari.com/judif)
    I've read and enjoyed your excerpt from Animal Cracker. I'm eagerly awaiting your published book. I'll continue to follow your progress on twitter and writerscramp88.

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  13. Your blogs are so interesting looking forward to reading more, best of luck!

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  14. Love, love, love the excerpt and so looking forward to reading more. :)

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