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Sunday, February 12, 2012

Six Sentence Sunday

Welcome to my SSS! I had a short story come out at MLR on Friday for Valentine's Day, so this month, I'm spotlighting that. It's called Budding Hopes, and it's an m/m set in 1954 Baltimore. Last week, Hal tracked Mark down to give him the extra flower for his mother's grave when he missed him at the store. This happens almost immediately afterward.


His legs were wobbly, and his heart threatened to explode, but he’d spent the morning trying to convince both himself and a ghost that he could turn his back on everything he was. He’d had a miserable afternoon as a result. Hal had taken a risk by looking for him. Didn’t he owe Hal the same strength? He cleared this throat. “If I wanted to buy you dinner Monday night, as a thank you for the flower and the thoughtfulness…you’d be free?”


To check out all the other six sentence contributions, head over to the official website.

15 comments:

K.E. Saxon, Author said...

Viviene, I just love the way you write. This is an interesting time period to set a gay romance. Look forward to seeing how you handle it. Great six!

Sarah Ballance said...

I think my heart pounded when he asked the question. This feels so high stakes - you really pull me in with your writing!

Unknown said...

That's so sweet and romantic. Awwwwe.

Unknown said...

Aww, 'Didn't he owe Hal the same strength?' Love that.

sue said...

I am anxious to see how you handle this as I am writing a similar character. I feel I have to consult a lot of references both for the period and the characterizations. Am enjoying this immensely

Monica Enderle Pierce said...

I love the chances both these men are taking. This story feels so 'human' and I'm really enjoying it.

Skye Warren said...

Love the internal debate of motivations, felt very natural.

Cate Masters said...

So poignant. Hope he learns to accept himself so he can find happiness.

Jessica E. Subject said...

Great show of his internal struggle! :)

JoAnn Ross said...

Oh, that's very poignant. I heart him! Also, wow, setting it in '50s Baltimore is really edgy! That and early '60s are my favorite time period for novels because they're right before so much changed and you can start to feel the tremors that would shake things up. Great job!

diannehartsock said...

Why oh why do you have to make me fall in love with all of your characters? Now I'll have to go find this story... :)

Sandra Sookoo said...

Aww, that's a romantic snippet!

Carly Fall said...

You can feel how difficult this question is for him. Great six.

Sue Ann Bowling said...

Now I want to know who the ghost was.

Ruthie said...

Convince both him and the ghost -- something's going on here that you haven't told us about! Love the mystery.