Image by rachel a. k. via Flickr

On November 1st, I, like many other writers, began a 30 day odyssey to write a novel of at least 50,000 words.  This will be my fifth novel and my second NaNoWriMo.

Hopefully my widget on the left side of my blog is working to give you a current accounting of my progress.

I have a snippet for you today.  I didn’t think I’d find any humor in this otherwise bleak tale, but I managed to squeeze some into this brief scene with Neely and her cellmate, Tracy.  All first draft remember, so lower your expectations a tad.

“…What’s your story, Neely?”  The padding of footsteps then the squeak of the bed coils gave away Tracy’s location.

“I won’t be getting out in a few hours.”  She continued to face the wall, hoped Tracy might leave her alone thinking she was too upset to chat.

No such luck.  “Whadya do?  Strike that.  What are they saying you did?”

She could lie and possibly end up in a long discussion of how the “man” picked on women for kicks or she could tell the truth and possibly scare Tracy into backing off.  Of course, she could have her expected outcomes flip-flopped too.  She opted for gloves off honesty.  “Terrorism, kidnapping and murder.”

“Whoa.  Who the hell are you?”

“Nobody.  I’m nobody.”  Neely rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, tracing the water stain path with her eyes from the light fixture to the outer edges of its bloom.

“Did you do it?  You don’t look Middle Eastern at all.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle.  “I’m from North Carolina.”

“Ah.  You work for the cigarette makers then?”

“No.  I’m a Finance Manager.”

“What’s that, like a loan shark or somethin’?”

Stay tuned for more NaNo snippets in the days ahead!