A Few More Lines from the Upcoming Novel, The Night Life.

I'm somewhat of a hopeless romantic, so naturally, every one of my stories is likely to contain a love story in some form or another.

In this case, however, the love story is more or less of a side story, and is not the main focus of The Night Life. This is probably the first piece I've written in years that does not focus mainly on the romantic prospects of the characters.

Of course, depending on how you spin it, that last sentence may be entirely false. It really depends on how you view the main character, Richard.


These next few lines, however, are actually about Tanya, the nosy and intrusive dancer who gets a little too involved in Richard's life. The love story in The Night Life belongs to her, and takes place between her and her high school sweetheart, Mickey Rodgers. They ended their relationship about a month after Mickey went to college in Colorado while she stayed behind in New Mexico, and now they find themselves reunited. Tanya quickly finds herself rediscovering her old feelings for her high school sweetheart; however, does Mickey share those feelings with her?

Would I ever see him again? It was likely, sure; we did only live an hour away from each other. Would I see him often? That, unfortunately was not likely. Meanwhile, I would be stuck here in Socorro dancing for a living, all while craving that elusive scent that clung to Mickey’s skin. Though I didn’t know it until now, I had spent the past six years in silent agony because I missed him. I must have spent at least four of those years telling myself I had forgotten him; only now did I realize that I loved him as much as I did when we were eighteen, and I couldn’t help but hope he felt the same way.

Another Snippet of Dialogue from "The Night Life".

In this scene, Richard and Tanya are duckingi t out, trying to decide what to do with Jane, whom they've just realized is not the girl they think she is.

Jane is no ordinary girl - rather, she's a runaway teen who's not been seen by her parents in over four yeas. And when Richard finds her in a gas station one day, he finds that she's completely devoid of any memory of her past. She doesn't even remember her own name. After some time, Richard and Tanya began to hypothesize that Jane might have killed herself prior to Richard finding her, in order to avoid ever being found by her frantic parents. The following scene is an exchange between Richard and Tanya, who are fighting over Jane's possible fate - do they take her to the hospital and get her treatment, or do they protect her from the parents who drove her away to begin with?


“Those people are slime balls!” Tanya spat, “the lowest of the low! Richard, if we risk her being found, her life will be hell. It will probably be much worse than it ever was before, before and after she ran away. We don’t know that she killed herself, but if you ask me, she had some pretty damn good reasons to try.”

“Tanya, we don’t know what’s happening with her,” I pleaded. “We don’t know if she’s brain damaged. We don’t know if the brain damage is worsening. We don’t know if she has an internal bleed somewhere…”

“If she did, she would be dead by now.”

“The point is, this girl needs our help, and we’re the only two people able to provide it.”
“I don’t get you Richard,” Tanya stared at me, “first, taking her to the hospital is out of the question. But now that we have an idea of what might have happened, you’ve changed your mind?”

“She’s just a girl,” I sighed. “If she attempted to end her own life on our watch, I would never live with myself.”

“And if she ended her life because we let her go,” Tanya paused, “I would never forgive myself.”

My Current Project: The Night Life

Dean Wesley Smith, who's blog I tend to read once in a blue moon, seems to think (at least in this post) that many writers have the ability to churn out a book in about six months. That's two books a year.

I'm not saying it's not possible; however, I don't see that happening for me anytime soon.

For example, I've been working on my current project, entitled The Night Life, since February 2010.

Now, yeah, that is almost two years. However, in two years, I've completed two drafts, and I'm working on the third right now. So far, the third has been slow going, especially since I'm working on some of the less exciting parts of the story, parts of the story that are necessary to understanding the lives of the characters, but are just not the most fun to work on and tweak.

The "real" Tanya Roberts.

The story takes place in the tiny town of Socorro, NM (to this day, I'm not 100% sure on why I chose this location) and centers around the lives of three people: Richard Broozer, Tanya Roberts, and "Jane". (Note: when I chose Tanya's name, I had no clue that she shared a namesake with the actress who plays "Midge" in That 70's Show.) 

Richard Broozer is somewhat of a secretive man, who, since his mother's unexpected death, was put in charge of running his father's old strip club. He does so begrudgingly, mainly to appease his father and keep peace in his crumbling family. However, Richard also struggles with a secret he finds himself fearful of revealing, especially to his father: he is gay.

Tanya Roberts, meanwhile, is an employee of Richard's. A former engineering dropout, she supports herself with erotic dancing in Richard's club, The Night Life. She mentions an interest in journalism; however, due to the modern media market and pressure from her mother, she chose instead to forego that passion. Her life, for the most part, remains stagnant.

"Jane" is discovered by Richard one day. She is found wandering aimlessly in a convenience store, where she confesses to Richard that she remembers nothing, not even her own name. After some deliberation, Richard takes her in, but at something of a price: Richard convinces Jane that, prior to a drunken night, they were a couple, and that she belongs to him. 

I hope, one day, I will finish The Night Life (don't worry - I will).