7-7-7 Poz Preview
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Posted by
Christoarpher
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28 July 2014
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So I was tagged by the lovely and talented Ariel Tachna over on Facebook for that 7-7-7 game where you go the seventh chapter of your work in progress and post the first seven lines of your seventh paragraph or somesuch.
Instead of posting in on Facebook, I thought I’d make post it on my blog for maximum coverage. This is the first seven paragraphs from the seventh chapter of Poz (unedited draft). Poz tells the story of Jeremy “Remy” Babcock, a high school student and rower, who in his desperation to shed his unwanted virginity makes some colorful choices the summer before his senior year in high school and contracts HIV. Despite the gravity of Remy’s situation, it’s nonetheless an uplifting and life-affirming story.
Poz has been accepted by Dreamspinner Press and will be released in November or December of this year. Updates to follow as they’re available.
~unedited draft~
note: Geoff is Remy’s twin brother.
Josh, the stud who’d cruised me at the boathouse, remembered me, all right. First of all, my phone lit up—lit up like Times Square on New Year’s Eve—when I turned it back on after class. Buzz buzz buzz! with a bunch of incoming text messages.
J: Hey pretty, of course I remember U
….
J: U there?
….
J: Text me back, brah.
….
“You’re getting ready for bed?” Geoff sounded surprised.
What could I say? “It’s been a long day.”
“Did you just whine?” He bumped me with his shoulder.
“Probably. All I want to do is crawl under the covers and sleep for a week.” At this point, I probably couldn’t have slept even with a face full of sedatives. I wanted to do something under the covers all right, but as close as Geoff and I were, there were some things we did not share. “Unfortunately I have to be up bright and early and ready to scull until I achieve perfection, and then help with a learn to row clinic I was drafted into.”
I must have made a face, because Geoff gave me a look of purest concern. “I thought you liked luring innocent young lads and lasses into a life of torture and rowing.”
“This is an adult learn to row clinic, actually.” I had to smile at Geoff’s phrasing, because he was right. “I’m just doing it because I get paid. One of the masters coaches is in charge. I’m just driving a boat.”
“You’re coxing?” Geoff laughed. “This I have to see.”
“You know where the boathouse is. Come watch.”
“Don’t you get too far out on the water to see much?”
I’d taken my contacts out by this time, so I looked over my glasses at him. “First day. We won’t get that far,” I muttered darkly.
I could tell by his smile that he was thinking about it. “Can I bring Laurel?”
“Of course.” I gave him a look. He knew how much I liked her. “The more the merrier. If the water’s calm, you might even be able to hear me doing a bad job of keeping my patience. The real fun, however, will be the coaches trying the same thing and they’ll have powered megaphones. You’ll hear them loud and clear.”
Geoff pulled his phone. “I’m telling Laurel about this right now.”
“The more I think about this the more it says something sad about us all that this is the most entertaining thing we can come up with.” I shook my head.
“Remy, we’re under eighteen. We can’t drink, we can’t get into clubs—okay, you and I can, but our friends can’t—and we’re not the type to spend the summer stoned. Let’s face it, Davis in the summer is quieter than a grave. Watching you not blowing your stack, or better yet, not screaming and swimming for shore? Best game in town.”
I had to admit Geoff was right. It just sucked to hear it put so bluntly. “Okay, there’s nothing I can say to that, but Geoff?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you dare wear as much aftershave as you’re pouring into your hand. Some on the cheeks, some further south, and that’s it. The idea is to make her go hunting for that elusive scent, not to choke us all in a cloud of it.”
I was the recipient of the one-fingered mudra of contempt, but he poured about half of it down the drain and then followed directions. “Why am I taking advice from a gay virgin?”
“Because I’m right,” I said around my toothbrush.
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Instead of posting in on Facebook, I thought I’d make post it on my blog for maximum coverage. This is the first seven paragraphs from the seventh chapter of Poz (unedited draft). Poz tells the story of Jeremy “Remy” Babcock, a high school student and rower, who in his desperation to shed his unwanted virginity makes some colorful choices the summer before his senior year in high school and contracts HIV. Despite the gravity of Remy’s situation, it’s nonetheless an uplifting and life-affirming story.
Poz has been accepted by Dreamspinner Press and will be released in November or December of this year. Updates to follow as they’re available.
~unedited draft~
note: Geoff is Remy’s twin brother.
Josh, the stud who’d cruised me at the boathouse, remembered me, all right. First of all, my phone lit up—lit up like Times Square on New Year’s Eve—when I turned it back on after class. Buzz buzz buzz! with a bunch of incoming text messages.
J: Hey pretty, of course I remember U
….
J: U there?
….
J: Text me back, brah.
….
“You’re getting ready for bed?” Geoff sounded surprised.
What could I say? “It’s been a long day.”
“Did you just whine?” He bumped me with his shoulder.
“Probably. All I want to do is crawl under the covers and sleep for a week.” At this point, I probably couldn’t have slept even with a face full of sedatives. I wanted to do something under the covers all right, but as close as Geoff and I were, there were some things we did not share. “Unfortunately I have to be up bright and early and ready to scull until I achieve perfection, and then help with a learn to row clinic I was drafted into.”
I must have made a face, because Geoff gave me a look of purest concern. “I thought you liked luring innocent young lads and lasses into a life of torture and rowing.”
“This is an adult learn to row clinic, actually.” I had to smile at Geoff’s phrasing, because he was right. “I’m just doing it because I get paid. One of the masters coaches is in charge. I’m just driving a boat.”
“You’re coxing?” Geoff laughed. “This I have to see.”
“You know where the boathouse is. Come watch.”
“Don’t you get too far out on the water to see much?”
I’d taken my contacts out by this time, so I looked over my glasses at him. “First day. We won’t get that far,” I muttered darkly.
I could tell by his smile that he was thinking about it. “Can I bring Laurel?”
“Of course.” I gave him a look. He knew how much I liked her. “The more the merrier. If the water’s calm, you might even be able to hear me doing a bad job of keeping my patience. The real fun, however, will be the coaches trying the same thing and they’ll have powered megaphones. You’ll hear them loud and clear.”
Geoff pulled his phone. “I’m telling Laurel about this right now.”
“The more I think about this the more it says something sad about us all that this is the most entertaining thing we can come up with.” I shook my head.
“Remy, we’re under eighteen. We can’t drink, we can’t get into clubs—okay, you and I can, but our friends can’t—and we’re not the type to spend the summer stoned. Let’s face it, Davis in the summer is quieter than a grave. Watching you not blowing your stack, or better yet, not screaming and swimming for shore? Best game in town.”
I had to admit Geoff was right. It just sucked to hear it put so bluntly. “Okay, there’s nothing I can say to that, but Geoff?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you dare wear as much aftershave as you’re pouring into your hand. Some on the cheeks, some further south, and that’s it. The idea is to make her go hunting for that elusive scent, not to choke us all in a cloud of it.”
I was the recipient of the one-fingered mudra of contempt, but he poured about half of it down the drain and then followed directions. “Why am I taking advice from a gay virgin?”
“Because I’m right,” I said around my toothbrush.
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