Love and Fandoms - Chapter One Part One

Chapter 1

MANDY (Summer before 3rd Grade)

Mandy ran up to Wyatt's door and rang the bell while Luci tumbled onto the grass, popped up, and threw punches and kicks she learned in Taekwondo. Luci tried to get her to take lessons, too, but Mandy's parents said she played too much soccer to devote enough time to learning a martial art. If she wanted to give up one of her leagues, they'd consider it, but she couldn't imagine that. She played in four soccer leagues throughout the year, one for each season, and Mom and Dad claimed that was enough. Anyway, Luci taught her a few moves, and while she thought it was neat, especially since Taekwondo relied on a lot of footwork, soccer was a million times more fun.

She reached to ring the bell again, but before her finger found the button, the door opened. The smells of lunch, possibly grilled cheese and tomato soup, drifted out of the house. Mrs. Faulk, Wyatt's mom, smiled at her, and then over at Luci. "Hi, girls. Good timing. We just finished eating." She turned around and yelled, "Wyatt! Mandy and Luci are here."

"Thank you, Mrs. Faulk," Mandy said. Luci jogged over from the lawn.

"Are you two excited about third grade?"

"I am," Luci said. "I heard Miss Heather bakes cookies each weekend and brings everyone in class some on Monday."

"I heard she brings donuts on holidays," Mandy said.

"We don't go to school on holidays," Luci said.

Mandy rolled her eyes at her best friend. "We do on Halloween and St. Patrick's Day and Valentine's Day. Things like that."

"Oh, yeah," Luci said. "Cool!"

"Sounds like it's going to be a yummy school year," Mrs. Faulk said. "Wyatt is most looking forward to the field trip to City Hall and the police station."

Mandy gave an enthusiastic nod. "That's going to be fun, too."

Wyatt came up behind his mom and gave Mandy and Luci a small wave. As always when she saw him, a funny feeling hit her in the tummy. Most boys were dumb and yucky, not good for much more than playing soccer with. But not Wyatt. He was as much her best friend as Luci.

Mrs. Faulk bent down and kissed the top of his head. "I have to leave for work at four, so I want you home by then. Do you have your watch?"

He held up his arm to show her. Mandy saw it was his Batman one. Maybe they could let him act as Batman today. Neither she nor Luci paid attention to the comic book characters like he did, but he never got to choose what they played.

"Good," Mrs. Faulk said. "Aunt Sandy will be here by then to watch you tonight."

"Aunt Sandy? Dad isn't coming home?"

Mrs. Faulk shook her head. "We'll talk about that tomorrow. Okay?"

Wyatt nodded and stepped outside between Mandy and Luci. Mandy's parents had talked in whispers about the trouble Wyatt's mom and dad were having, but she could never hear much. Her aunt and uncle had gotten a divorce last year, and her cousin, Brenda, told Mandy how difficult it was. Both Brenda's mom and dad had worked extra-hard to be nice to her, but not having them both at home stunk big time, even if all they did was fight when they were together. Mandy wanted to give Wyatt a hug, as he looked sad, but this probably wasn't the best time.

"Have fun," Mrs. Faulk called, and she closed the door.

They walked through the neighborhood on the way to their school where they could hang out in the playground. Luci told a story about her little brother acting up and almost disrupting one of her Taekwondo classes, and while Wyatt kept pace, he didn't react even at the funniest parts. Once they neared the school grounds, Mandy took his hand, finally getting him to look at her.

"I don't think my dad is coming back," he said. "At least not to live with us." Neither Mandy nor Luci knew what to say, so they simply led him to the playground.

"Do you guys want to play house?" Luci asked, once they reached the big plastic playground structure. They'd done it often enough, with the huge toy making a perfect house, complete with stairs, slides, a cargo net, monkey bars, and plenty of other cool things to climb. "I'll be the sassy mom, and you two can be my kids."

"No way," Mandy said. "I'm the wife, Wyatt's my husband, and you can be our precocious daughter."

Luci clucked her tongue. "What kind of daughter? That sounds like a vocab word I don't remember."

"I didn't learn it in school. Besides, it's a compliment."

"It basically means you're good at stuff at an early age," Wyatt said.

"And usually precocious kids are sassy," Mandy said. "At least on TV."

"Oh, okay. But how come you and Wyatt always get to be the mom and dad?"

"Duh," Mandy said. "Because I'm going to marry Wyatt someday, and this is good practice." She immediately threw her hands up to her mouth and felt her face heat up. No doubt she was as red as a tomato, as her dad always said when she blushed. Wyatt's eyes went wide, but his face turned pale instead of red. Luci's hands also went to her mouth, but she did it to stifle as much laughter as she could. Mandy couldn't believe she'd let her feelings for Wyatt slip out.

Once Luci got herself under control, she said, "So the truth comes out. If you're going to marry him, you need to kiss."

"Luci!" she squealed in a mix of horror and surprise. Kiss him? She'd never kissed a boy before. She'd never even wanted to kiss a boy. But as she looked over at Wyatt, his eyes still wide, she had to admit she wouldn't mind. Not with him.

"Okay, Wyatt," Luci said. "Pucker up. You need to kiss Mandy."

Now he did blush, and he nodded his head ever so slightly. "Okay."

Mandy chewed on her bottom lip, but quickly stopped. She needed both of her lips to kiss him, right? They took a step towards each other, hesitated, and then took another. Luci nudged them even closer. "Come on."

Their faces moved together, and then it happened. When their lips touched, it was shock of static electricity, like when you scraped your socks across the carpet and touched someone. But a nice feeling, not a jolt. His sharp intake of breath proved he felt it, too. The kiss only lasted a second, maybe two, but in that instant, Mandy knew she was right; someday she would marry Wyatt.

"Eww!" Luci shrieked between howls of laughter. "That was gross! I don't want to play house anymore. Let's go on the swings."

As she sprinted towards the swing set, Mandy and Wyatt shared a shy smile, and then chased after her.

Click here to read Chapter One Part Two

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Love and Fandoms Hub

Welcome to the Love and Fandoms hub. Below you can find where to purchase the book, read the description, and read the first five chapters for free! (And who doesn't love free?) Enjoy your stay here!

You can buy Love and Fandoms here: Kindle edition 
You can buy Love and Fandoms here: CreateSpace paperback

So what is Love and Fandoms about? Here's the description:

Geekdom is a compulsion. Mandy Blake is learning that's true in more ways than one. Even though she's dating Alex Jacobs, the school's star quarterback, who is also the top football recruit in the nation, she can't get the ultra-geeky Wyatt Faulk out of her mind. She's also learning to love sci-fi, fantasy, and comic book fandoms of all kinds, which is bringing her closer to Wyatt. Unfortunately, as Mandy's relationship with Alex begins to crumble, she can't begin dating Wyatt because he's started dating a girl who is seemingly perfect for him. Despite their obvious attraction to each other, are they simply not destined to be? 

No girl anywhere can match up to Mandy Blake in Wyatt Faulk's eyes. He knows how stupid that is, and that he should forget all about her, especially since she's been dating the perfect Alex Jacobs for over four years now. Even when Wyatt gets a girlfriend of his own, the gorgeous and almost as geeky as him Allyssa Shaw, he can't get Mandy out of his mind. He knows Allyssa is his perfect match, and that he should lose himself in her, but will that happen, or is he forever destined to pine after Mandy? 

Here are the first five chapters for you to read. I've broken up each chapter into two parts - one for Mandy, and one for Wyatt. The entire book has each of their point of view in each chapter.

Chapter One - Part 1 (Mandy)
Chapter One - Part 2 (Wyatt)
Chapter Two - Part 1 (Mandy)
Chapter Two - Part 2 (Wyatt)
Chapter Three - Part 1 (Mandy)
Chapter Three - Part 2 (Wyatt)
Chapter Four - Part 1 (Mandy)
Chapter Four - Part 2 (Wyatt)
Chapter Five - Part 1 (Mandy)
Chapter Five - Part 2 (Wyatt)

I hope you've enjoyed learning more about Love and Fandoms. I hope you give it a read, tell your friends, and leave a review at Amazon, Goodreads, or anywhere else that will help spread the word. Thanks!

Short Scene From Love and Fandoms

Here's another short scene from Love and Fandoms, my Contemporary Young Adult Romance novel. I'm on track to release it on Amazon for the Kindle the first week of November, and you'll be able to get it in paperback not long after. I released a scene a couple of weeks ago from Mandy's point of view (she's one of the two main characters in the novel, and you can read that scene here), so today I'm showing you a scene from Wyatt's point of view (he's the other main character). I hope you enjoy this peek inside the book!

SHORT EXCERPT FROM LOVE AND FANDOMS BY CJ ZANE

Wyatt and Kareem sat in the shade on a planter near the math building. It had been their lunch spot since freshman year, so there was no need to change it up now, even if it was on the opposite side of campus from Pop Culture after lunch. Most people ate closer to the middle of campus, meaning this area, more on the fringe, was sparsely populated, exactly as they preferred. It made for quiet study times when they wanted, like today. Both had their noses buried in their Physics texts while they ate.

"I'm impressed you two aren't getting drips and crumbs all over the books." They looked up and saw Allyssa standing in front of them. "Especially if that's your famous peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwich, Wyatt."

"No, not today. It's PB&J. But if it was the PBB&H, it still wouldn't drip. The secret's in the construction."

"You'll have to show me your secret sometime," she said, throwing him a wink. "Every time I make one, it's delicious but messy."

His breathing went a little bit shallow with her wink, but he quickly caught himself and said, "Yeah, I'll, uh, yeah. Sometime."

She and Kareem shared a look that he mostly missed. Kareem then said, "If it makes you feel any better, I'm getting crumbs all over my book." He brushed a bunch to the ground. "But better the book than my shirt." It was a brown t-shirt with an outline of the ship, Serenity, from the cult TV show, Firefly.

"Yeah, that shirt sure is shiny, Captain." They all snickered. "Anyway, shouldn't you two be talking geek rather than acting nerd?"

"We act nerd now so we can geek later," Kareem said.

"We're fighting zombies in Call of Duty tonight," Wyatt elaborated.

"You could join us," Kareem said, "if you'd only picked the superior machine."

"I did. It's not my fault you two fell for the marketing hype."

Wyatt chuckled. It was an old argument he rarely joined in on. He saw the pros and cons of both consoles, and the tipping point for him in the decision was that Kareem wanted the Xbox 360 over the Playstation 3. They'd already talked about upgrading to the Xbox One soon.

"Anyway, I came over to see if you guys picked anything up at AD after I left."

"Nah," Kareem said. "We'll go back after school to grab the new books. Or at least I will. Some of us don't know how to collect anymore." He nudged Wyatt.

"I collect the ones that either may be worth something some day or that simply look cool. Otherwise it's better to get them digitally."

"Sacrilege, man. Sacrilege."

"I'm actually starting to see the wisdom in that myself," Allyssa said. "Most books won't be worth the room they take up. And I like the guided reading feature on ComiXology. I don't jump ahead that way. And I don't have to worry about ruining the pages when I read."

"It's not collecting."

"You see me buy books with bags and boards all the time," Wyatt said. "Just not most ongoing monthly and bi-monthlies."

"Still."

"Still nothing," Allyssa said. "You're just being stubborn." She bent down and patted Wyatt's knee. "Let me know if you see any gems. I probably won't get there until this weekend."

"Will do," he said around a lump forming in his throat.

"See you guys in class," she said, and wandered away, back, presumably, to wherever she normally spent lunch. They rarely moved from this spot, so he had no idea.

"She knows as well as we do what titles are coming out today," Kareem said. "Just like she knows the secret to your little sandwich."

"Some small presses might put something out that we aren't expecting. And don't diss the PBB&H. It takes a steady hand and a keen mind."

"Then how do you manage? If you don't know why she came over here, your mind isn't all that keen, my friend."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Okay, so that was a lie, but he wasn't going to admit it.

"You say six simple, one-syllable words to her, and you got yourself a girlfriend. Will. You. Go. Out. With. Me." He punctuated each word by holding up a finger to count them. Once he used all five on his right hand, he held up the middle finger on his left.

A comeback didn't strike Wyatt right away, so he shook his head.

Kareem picked his Physics text back up. "Pathetic, bro. Pathetic. At least finish your reading so we can blast zombies tonight."

"Blast you tonight."

"Oh, just say the word, and I'll deathmatch you. Then you won't have a girlfriend or your dignity."

He picked up his own Physics book, but couldn't help chuckling, which got Kareem laughing. Anyone passing by would probably think they were having too much fun reading their textbooks. No wonder they had the reputation for being huge geeks and nerds.

Week 1 Writing Prompts

This week I decided to create writing prompts. I put one a day, Monday through Friday, on both my Twitter feed and Tumblr blog. They are character-driven prompts, designed to help you get to know your character better, and story-driven prompts, designed to help you write a complete story, be it a short or longer. Of course, with all writing prompts, you can simply choose to use them as practice. Any way you decide to use them is great; writing prompts will only help you as an author. I will do my best to continue posting Monday through Friday on Twitter and Tumblr, and then making a wrap-up post for the week here. If you decide to use one or all of these prompts, there's no need to give me any credit for stories you create (not that I wouldn't mind a shout-out or link back to my blog, Twitter, or Tumblr, but it is by no means necessary). Have fun with these!

Final Cover for Love and Fandoms

This will almost 100% for sure be the final cover for Love and Fandoms. The word placement on the bottom (very tiny words that I sort of want to blend into the line scribbles) have been holding me up, but I think I’m finally happy with them. They’re all words that have meaning in the book. They are: Mister Incognito, Danger Squad, Super Heroes, Comic Books, Video Games, and Sci-Fi & Fantasy. They’re kind of hard to see, but that’s sort of the point - an almost Easter Egg-type thing. 

Love and Fandoms will be available either the last week of October or the first week of November. 

Short Scene from Love and Fandoms

Here is the first look inside Love and Fandoms, my YA Contemporary Romance. I'm shooting for a release date in late October, but I may hold out for the first week of November. Anyway, more on that later. For today, I'd like to present a scene that I always loved, from first draft through the revision and editing stage. You don't need any background from the story to enjoy this one - you'll be able to figure out enough about everything to (I'm hoping!) get a kick out of it. I will, as I said, have much more about this book soon, so for now enjoy this sneak peak!

SHORT EXCERPT FROM LOVE AND FANDOMS BY CJ ZANE

As they walked towards the car, Luci said, "There's that shopping center in Brea that has a Wal-Mart, Party City, and Michaels. If we can't find things there, we're out of luck."

"Uh-huh."

Luci waited until they were in the car before saying, "Spill it."

She considered denying anything was wrong, but Luci knew her too well. "Does everyone think I'm crazy for not sleeping with Alex?"

"You guys have fallen asleep in each others' arms more than once. I've seen it."

Mandy snorted. Luci always could make her laugh even when she didn't want to. "You know what I mean. Does everyone think I'm crazy for not sexing him up every chance we get?"

"Most people probably assume you do. You've been with him long enough. What did Allyssa say to you?"

"When she saw him without his shirt, she wondered how I ever let him leave the house."

Luci busted out laughing. "And I'm sure your parents and his would allow that. You have to keep your bedroom door open when he's there, don't you?"

"I know, right?" She didn't bother bringing up what she said about Wyatt.

"What do you care what she thinks? Honestly, I'm surprised you're even going to do it at prom. Up until last year, you were pretty adamant about waiting until marriage."

"Don't say anything, especially to Alex, but I'm thinking a night in a hotel room alone might be our couples Christmas gift."

"Oh, good, because nothing says 'Happy Birthday, Jesus,' like going to a seedy motel to lose your virginity."

"Stop it. Maybe a couples Valentine's Day gift."

Luci didn't say anything, and Mandy wondered if the conversation was over. A minute or so later, though, she said, "Is Alex pressuring you?"

"No, not at all." This Alex, her Alex, wasn't, anyway. "I guess I'm just curious what it's like."

"You know I'm of no practical help there, but from what I've heard, if you rush it, even if you love him, it's not as good. I'm not saying don't spread 'em for Jesus or Cupid, but only if you're ready."

Mandy tried to hold back, but she physically couldn't. She howled with laughter right there in the passenger seat. The windows were up, the AC was cranked, and the radio belted out tunes, but she was sure everyone in the surrounding cars could hear her. Crude advice? Sure, but Luci was good at doling that out, and she was spot on. Mandy owed her bestie a big hug when they parked.

Cover for Love and Fandoms

I've tweaked the cover I created to still be very simple, but to have bits of the book at the bottom in the scribbles. I may still play with fonts for it, and possibly locations of each word/phrase, but I like it. They are words and phrases that have meaning in the story. You have to look hard for them, but I think my characters would enjoy that about it! "Mister Incognito" and "Danger Squad" were fandoms I created for the story, so they, of course, had to go on. The others are simply genres (sci-fi and Fantasy) or other things important to the characters (comic books, super heroes, and video games). I would have loved to have put the real world fandoms the characters love on the cover, but I don't think that would fly very well. Anyway, enjoy this look at the cover as it stands now. If I do change anything about it, only the look of the seven words at the bottom in the scribbles will be affected. I may add a word or two, but I doubt it. So, I guess, this is the polished draft that may be used!

Writing Prompts

I love writing prompts. They are one of the most versatile tools for writers. They can create entire stories, add that little bit of needed color to an existing story, be used as simple writing practice, or anything in between. What's more, writers of any genre and age group can look at the same prompt and come up with widely different pieces.

For example, if a group of writers were given a single-word prompt, such as "sunset," the end result would be so varied that the reader likely wouldn't have a clue they all started from the same place. A writer of dark fiction or dystopia may have a town living in fear of sunset because of the horrors which the night brings. A romance writer might have sunset be the time when two lovers can meet. A science fiction writer could have sunset mark the beginning of a long period of absolute darkness on a distant world. A writer of any genre can come up with a plethora of ideas with that simple prompt. Even writers of the same genre will pen vastly different tales.

Whether you use them as a warm-up exercise or craft a complete plot around them, writing prompts are a useful tool. Put it to practice now. Use that single word, Sunset, to spark something creative. Feel free to borrow an idea I put forth above and flesh it out to your heart's content, or take it in an entirely new direction. No need to give me any credit for the prompt when you use it. Have fun with it, and happy writing!

Playing Around With Another Cover

Here's another one I made for my upcoming book, Love and Fandoms. I actually like the simplicity of this one. As with the first cover I made, it's not one I'll likely use, but if push comes to shove, I could see myself using this one. Chime in if you'd like!

First Attempt at Creating a Cover

My first book (as CJ Zane, anyway) still needs to go through a few more revisions, but I'm thinking ahead to the release, which I'm going to do everything I can to make sure it happens before the end of the year. I would normally buy a pre-made cover, as I find those to be excellent quality, but I thought I might try my hand at creating my own. This is not the final cover, and the final cover most likely will look nothing like this, but I thought I'd share my first attempt, just for fun. What do you think?