I apologize to those of you who read the incomplete version of this blog post yesterday. My days are all SO mixed up, cost and I’m all over the place. This post was supposed to be posted today, treat December 1st, now that NaNoWriMo has completed.

So how did you guys do? I want to know! Share with me your experiences, your successes and struggles, and show me what you’ve written! Tell me what your book is about. I’m so proud of all of you who took a dive into writing a novel.

I’m also proud of myself. What? I am! I got some MAJOR work done on The Reawakened. It normally takes me SO long to write a novel. Another Chance for Summer took me TWO years, and A Little Less than Famous took a little more than a year. With this novel, I’ve accomplished SO much in this month and I’m proud of myself for it!

Now that NaNoWriMo is over, my word count is officially at: 61,295.

Which makes me a NaNo winner! Yay!

So exciting! Now, for the most exciting part of this. You get to dive into a little piece of my own novel. Keep in mind that it IS a rough draft, and any or all of the words that you see below may not necessarily make it into the finished novel. But I think they will!

Please note also that this is all copyrighted to me. I will literally hunt you down and sue you a hundred times over if you take this as your own. You have no idea. I will do unspeakable things. I don’t show it often, but I can get pretty angry. I don’t mean to be harsh but this is my baby, and I trust you all in showing you a bit of my novel, and my hard work. Please don’t betray my trust!

As you may recall, this is the synopsis for The Reawakened:

Katy Valentine has a normal life in Brooklyn, NY, going to baseball games with her dad, spending nights dancing at clubs with her best friend, Madison, and trying as best as she can to avoid her next door neighbor and bane of her existence, Ash Matthews. Things are predictable, but normal and Katy is happy. That’s when the Z virus hits. Within a month, a huge chunk of the population has fallen ill, and died due to this mysterious virus. Before anyone can figure out what it is, or where it came from, the bodies of the victims disappear, all over the country. Katy ends up locked inside her own house, scared to go outside, scared to let anyone in, until suddenly the bodies reappear, reawakened and its like every zombie movie come to life. Except this time, they’re faster, they’re smarter, and they work together to get the one thing they want.  And the only thing they crave, the only thing they fight for, is human flesh.

Now, this scene is about…hmm, 1/4 of the way through the novel. Maybe. Maybe less. Its hard to tell when its not finished. Katy and Ash are at her home, barricaded inside to keep themselves safe from the virus when Katy’s best friend, Madison, calls and tells her she’s out at a rock show. Katy and Ash decide to go after her, and bring her home, to keep her safe.

Enjoy!

We made it down to the venue in no time at all. Ash paid the cover charge and I handed over my ticket. I passed my coat over to a guy just inside and hoped I’d get it back at the end of the night.

Three-One-Six were already playing when we walked in and I forgot my purpose for a moment. I had been waiting for this show for months, and now that I was here, all I wanted to do was listen to the music and to dance. They were my favorite band and every time I saw them live, they seemed better and better. Plus, over the years, Madison and I had become friends with them and I looked forward to hanging out with them, going to late night diners, after the show. 

“This is your favorite song, isn’t it?” Ash shouted at me. 

I turned to him, surprised. “How did you know that?” 

“I pay attention, Kates.” He shrugged. “Let’s dance.” 

I hesitated. “We came here for Madison.” 

“Come on, its one song,” he said, walking backwards toward the crowd dancing in front of the stage. “Besides, Madison is probably in there somewhere, so dancing would only be helpful to our cause.” 

I felt myself beginning to give in and Ash seized his chance, taking my hand and dragging me into the crowd. I let myself be pulled in, feeling the beat of my favorite song flow through me. I wanted to dance. I wanted to dance so badly, even if it had to be with Ash. 

He stopped when we’d made our way to the stage. He took my shaking arms and wrapped them around his neck. His hands came to rest on my waist and he pulled me closer, right up against him, every part of us touching. 

“We’re too close,” I shouted, swallowing hard. 

Ash leaned down, the cocky grin in place. “Don’t be nervous, Katy,” he whispered in my ear, causing me to shiver a little. He started off slow, his hips moving against mine, picking up speed to match the song. He was an amazing dancer and my hands were too tight around his neck and an overwhelming warmth was spreading through my body. My hands loosened and traveled down his broad shoulders to his arms. I knew I’d come here for a reason but I couldn’t remember why. My mind was cloudy. I couldn’t think of anything except the feel of his body against mine, and the pulse of the music. 

“What would your girlfriend think of you dancing with me?” I said. breathless, when the song ended. 

He hadn’t let me go. His arm was wrapped tightly around my waist and his other hand was on my thigh, right below the hemline of my dress, pushing it upwards. “I don’t have a girlfriend.” I gave him an exasperated look, trying to ignore the fact that my hands were still gripping his arms tightly.

“I don’t,” he repeated. “Not anymore.” 

I suddenly felt uncomfortable, uneasy about the little distance between us, and the serious expression on his face. Ash almost never looked like this, and it only made him look that much better. I started to pull away. 

His hand shot up and his fingers wrapped around the back of my neck, holding me in place. “Now, where do you think you’re going, Kates?” he said, a small smile on his face. 

He was leaning down to me, and all I could think was that he was going to kiss me, and that I wanted him to. I didn’t care that he was Ash Matthews or that I hated him or that he made my life miserable. He was inches away from me and he was incredibly sexy and he was a great dancer and it had been too long since a boy had kissed me. My heart was beating wildly in my chest, matching the beat of the song, and he was only a whisper away. 

Then a scream rang out above the music. 

And I knew exactly who it belonged to. 

Madison. 

I pulled away from Ash, my eyes wide. “Madison.” 

The band had stopped playing and everyone was looking around in confusion. I started pushing my way through, shoving people, Ash at my heels. 

I found Madison by the entrance to the restrooms. She was sobbing, her hand pressed across her mouth, lipstick smeared across her lips, and mascara running down her round cheeks. She was wearing a white lace dress, and she almost seemed to glow in the darkness of the club, surrounded by so many people dressed in black. A dark substance was spread across the front of her dress and I realized quickly that it was blood. She looked like an angel, a beautiful tiny avenging angel. I reached out to her at the same moment that she vomited blood all over the floor. 

*      *      *      *      *

I hope you enjoyed this little peek into the world of The Reawakened! I’m going to continue to work VERY hard on it, and hopefully you’ll all be able to read it someday! I definitely hope so!

Happy Writing and Reading everyone!