Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Teaser Tuesday

just kidding about that big post. It needs a little longer to cook. So let's celebrate post 100 with the first bit of INVINCIBLE SUMMER, shall we?

This is pre-notes from editor, so God knows if this will bear any resemblance to the first page in the real thing. But here's what it looks like now.


---


Gideon keeps falling down.

He and Claudia slipped outside to the beach before anyone else was ready. They’re greasy and gritty with sand and sea water now—no point in dragging them back inside. None of us feel like making the effort. My mother, who’s a little too old and way too pregnant to run around outside and parent them hands-on like she used to, drifts to the deck to watch them, one hand on her stomach, one on the railing.

My dad looks at Noah and me lingering by the windows. We’re moaning every time we see a particularly good wave roll by and looking at each other—maybe we should go out? Maybe we can? No.

Outside, Claudia is laughing. She always says she’s way too old to play with Gideon. But she still does, at least when we’re here. Here no one is too old. Except Mom and Dad. Claudia and Gideon are the two youngest, so they get shoved together and there is no way to avoid it, even though Claudia’s eleven and Gideon’s barely six.

Dad says, “Aren’t you two going out?”

We can’t. Despite the sand clinging to our feet from the walk from the car and the soaked-in sunscreen smell of this carpet, Noah and I know that it isn’t quite summer. Not yet. Summer can’t start at night, first of all, and it definitely can’t start before we see the SUV roll up outside the Hathaway’s beach house. And until it comes, we’ll wait here. That’s tradition, and Noah and I do not kill tradition.

Noah is eighteen, four years my senior, as long as you’re not talking about emotional age. His nose hooks at the end, just covering where his spiky mustache is coming in. His hand taps a beat on my shoulder.

18 comments:

suzie townsend said...

I love this book!

hannah moskowitz said...

and I love YOU.

Anonymous said...

AND I LOVE YOU...LOVING...THIS BOOK!

Seriously, its even better than the last time I read this bit :D

-Zoomb

Elissa J. Hoole said...

and I love all this love!

(but srsly, YAYYYY HANNAH! :D)

hannah moskowitz said...

i also love my musers, like, a LOT.

Anonymous said...

Mmm. There's something really lovely about the rhythm in IS. It's so relaxing.

Sage said...

Everything I've seen of this book is beautifully written

hannah moskowitz said...

sophie--thank you! that's really the goal of this, in a lot of ways.

and thank you, sagey!

Alainn said...

So many lines in this hit me hard. Beautiful writing! I`m really excited to read it all!!!

(Obviously, I love Hannah and exclamation points. Preferably at the same time.)

hannah moskowitz said...

i'm so into the musers pwning the comments section of this post.

Raven M said...

Wow. I loved this. I love the way the words flow.

I'm definitely looking forward to buying this when it comes out. ^_^

Meghan Ward said...

Great beginning! I love the name Gideon, and I love the first line, "Gideon keeps falling down." Looking forward to reading more!

Anonymous said...

Claudia FTW

Cat Hellisen said...

Ooh I remember reading this before. I love it.

bclement412 said...

DUDE this is amazing. Seriously. Great writing. :)

Anonymous said...

This voice is so different from the stuff I usually read from you, but I LOVE it. Fantastic job.

hannah moskowitz said...

you guys are all awesome, thank you. :) I'm very, very excited to edit this book and for you all to read it. It's one of my favorites.

ChristaCarol Jones said...

Late in coming in, but I agree, your voice here rocks. And the tense only tripped me up once ("They're" but then it's like I didn't even notice, which is awesome. I have a hard time writing present. You must swear to post one every Tuesday now!