{"id":644,"date":"2016-09-03T20:52:25","date_gmt":"2016-09-04T00:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/?p=644"},"modified":"2021-07-17T18:08:58","modified_gmt":"2021-07-17T22:08:58","slug":"september-feature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/?p=644","title":{"rendered":"September Feature!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m thrilled to be Featured Follower for the month of September on author C. Lee McKenzie’s blog, TheWriteGame! Lee, whom I met through Uncommon YA, is a widely-published author of young adult and middle grade novels. She’s also a wonderfully gracious supporter of fellow authors. Visit her site this month to learn more about me and my process, and enter for a chance to win a signed hardcover of The Namesake<\/em>. <\/p>\n

I appreciate Lee for also sharing news about my latest manuscript, The Precious Dreadful<\/em>. That story follows gutsy young Teddi Alder as she tries to solve a pair of mysteries one very hot summer. Here’s a short passage to pique your interest.<\/p>\n

In this excerpt, Teddi journals in response to a writing prompt titled \u201cOld Friend,\u201d inadvertently summoning memories of her childhood playmate, Corey.<\/p>\n

***************<\/p>\n

COREY AT THE POND<\/strong><\/p>\n

Harsh buzz in my ears, metallic whine of insects. We pick carefully through heavy branches rimming the path. Corey points to tri-clustered greens, reminds me, \u201cLeaves of three\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n

It should feel cooler here beneath the branches, but even in shade, heat embraces me like a long-lost aunt. Sweat pastes my Scooby tank to my back, and I feel the prickly tightness of sunburn pinch my shoulder blades.<\/p>\n

Corey leads. We\u2019re explorers some days, sometimes the last surviving members of a secret tribe. Today he chooses: Croc Hunter and Terri. I go along, even though Terri mostly stands to the side cheering Steve on.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should play Croc Hunter back in the Cretaceous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Corey likes that. Grinning, he agrees. \u201cGreat idea, Terri.\u201d <\/p>\n

Prehistoric fits this place. The path\u2019s bordered by huge ferns, twisting cones of skunk cabbage. As we hike further along, there are evil-looking red berries, a humongous spider web. Everything seems ancient, despite the ground litter. Aluminum flip top rings, cigarette butts. Chip bags.<\/p>\n

Other things I pretend not to see. Corey calls them \u201chypes and condos.\u201d He says hypes are for drugs and the other\u2026well, he\u2019s not sure. But his cousin told him those have something to do with S-E-X<\/em>. He laughed at me for calling them \u201cweird little milk balloons,\u201d warned I\u2019d catch a disease if I touched one.<\/p>\n

I follow him, road noise shrinking, shrinking as we go deeper in. We pass Stone Loop, this area where the grass is flattened-down, burnt. Rocks, some furniture-big, ring the circle; they\u2019re painted with initials and swear words, dirty pictures. In the middle is a jumble of smaller stones, blackened chunks of wood, melted bottles.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrikey, we\u2019ve stumbled on a camp, Terri! Must be a family of Cro Magnons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Corey nails the Croc Hunter accent, so I don\u2019t bother correcting him. There were no cavemen in the Cretaceous. <\/p>\n

\u201cLook, Steve. What do you make of this?\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a picnic table; someone\u2019s obviously dragged it here. Covered in spray paint, like the rocks, its surface is scorched, carved with strange symbols. I wonder how Corey will explain this.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever mind that, Terri. Over here! It\u2019s a nesting area! I\u2019ll bet there are some HUGE crocs around here.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve made it to the pond. Dragonflies sew patterns into the surface, dashing stitches that appear briefly, then dissolve into the scum-green skin. <\/p>\n

Drawn by ripples, Corey spots a pair of eyes that slowly rise and dip below the water\u2019s slimy surface. A turtle. \u201cIt\u2019s a baby archelon, Terri.\u201d Moving closer to the pond edge, he lifts a heavy sheet of bark, tests its weight like a baseball bat. \u201cIf I can just stun her with this, I\u2019ll bet we can catch her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure that\u2019s such a good idea, Steve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all right, Terri. I know what I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raising the slab above his head, he inches across the marshy bank, closer to the water. <\/p>\n

\u201cNO!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ignoring my cry, Corey swings with all he\u2019s got. The turtle submerges before the weapon can connect, the bark making a loud SMACK as it hits the mucky surface. Knocked off balance by the momentum of his forward swing, Corey falls forward. Knees splatting into the mud, his head and torso are briefly submerged in the brackish ooze.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m frozen, a lump in my throat, chill sweat instantly slicking my forehead, armpits.<\/p>\n

Spluttering, Corey struggles for a moment to right himself. \u201cDang it, Teddi!\u201d He sits up, swipes his face clear of green scum.<\/p>\n

Realizing he\u2019s okay, I bust into laughter. He looks mad for just a second, his eyebrows knit together. Then he joins me on the bank, coughing laughter and spitting out \u201cturtle juice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just as I close the journal, my phone rings. <\/p>\n

*************** <\/p>\n

Thanks for stopping by; check in for updates as The Precious Dreadful<\/em> moves toward publication!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m thrilled to be Featured Follower for the month of September on author C. Lee McKenzie’s blog, TheWriteGame! Lee, whom I met through Uncommon YA, is a widely-published author of young adult and middle grade novels. She’s also a wonderfully gracious supporter of fellow authors. Visit her site this month to learn more about me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[52,10,4,1],"tags":[38,18,11,43,36,17,33,50,44],"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=644"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":650,"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644\/revisions\/650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}