So there I was, minding my own business, when Elizabeth Barone tagged me for the “Look” Challenge. Homework! You know, it’s not like I’m flush with time. I mean, this pot of coffee isn’t going to drink itself, Elizabeth. And if I don’t do it, some kid’s going to wander in, gulp it down, and stunt his growth.

Now I have to put that critical, child-saving effort on hold while I stuff down my Demons of Self-Deprecation long enough to show you a glimpse of my WIP, way before it’s ready for primetime.

Thanks Elizabeth! In twenty years, when the world is overrun by four-foot tall, twitching caffeine addicts, it will be your fault.

Anyway, the “Look” Challenge. The idea is simple:

1. Grab your current work in progress.

2. Find the first occurrence of the word “look.”

3. Copy that paragraph and a few surrounding paragraphs.

4. Post them to your blog.

5. Tag five other people.

The work taking up the bulk of my time and interest lately is that young adult novel I mentioned before. It’s not my usual thing, despite it being essentially a haunted house tale. Anyway, herewith…

The trees flew by the passenger side window, broken by the occasional field, and interrupted by towns so small they passed in a blink. Jay’s book lay forgotten on his lap as he took in the view.

There were hills, green, standing like ocean waves frozen in time. No sprawl, no sky scrapers, no concrete as far as the eye could see. He had to admit he liked what he saw, though he’d only admit it to himself. He turned and watched his mother as she drove.

Lynn Archer was in her mid-thirties, with blonde hair and light blue eyes, a contrast to his own brown and brown look. He took after his father, a man he’d never met and didn’t care to.

His mother wore a black tee shirt and matching jeans, she listened to loud music from bands he’d never heard of, and she’d never given up the hope that she was young and cool.

Jay never got the idea that she regretted getting pregnant and leaving college in her first year to have him, but more than once he’d caught her looking at him in a way that said she was asking herself “What if?”

Putting up excerpts like this always gives me the heebie-jeebies. With rare exceptions, I’m never comfortable letting my writing out the door before I’ve allowed my anal-retentive, perfectionist nature to thoroughly beat it into submission.

When I read over the snippet above, it reminds me of multiple problems I working through in the book. I’m struggling to find the precise way to present the relationship between Jay and his mother, for one. For another, Jay himself hasn’t completely revealed himself to me yet. There are too many times when I have to feed him his lines when he should be improving his ass off.

But I digress, on to the tagging.

1. Mike Paulson

2. Julie Glover

3. Laurel Rain Snow

4. Lauralynn Elliott

5. Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

Now I’ve got to get to the coffee pot and save the world.