markwildyr.com, Post #61
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| Artist: Maria Fanning |
Someone contacted me recently about how much they enjoyed—and identified with—Johnny Two-Guns, a character in my novel of the same name published in March of 2016. Since I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Johnny, I decided to give you another look at the novel. The following scene takes place while Johnny and Roger Mackie are driving south from Montana toward Arizona. They are still getting to know one another. The shy Johnny has just confessed he’s never experienced an intimate relationship with a woman. The following scene occurs in Chapter 3 of the book. The first speaker is Johnny Two-Guns.
*****
“Do you think bad of me?”
I set the cruise control on the car and shifted my feet to a more comfortable position. “For what?”
“Because I haven’t done it with a girl? Almost twenty-one years old, and I never done it. Everybody else I know has.”
“Or claim they have,” I said. “I don’t think any less of you. You may not have fucked a woman, but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to get into a fight with you. You might be too much man for me to handle.”
He laughed. A burst of genuine mirth. “How old were you when you first… you know, had sex?”
My stomach rolled and my upper lip started itching. My nervous system threatened to go out of control. Christ, was I becoming a predator? I snatched a quick look at him and decided he deserved an honest answer. “Johnny, we’re talking man-to-man here, right?”
“Sure.”
“What you say to me goes no further. What I say to you stays with you, right?”
“Okay.”
“All right. I had sex for the first time when I was eighteen. I had sex with a girl the first time when I was nineteen.”
There was a long silence as he puzzled over that one. “I didn’t mean doing it… well, to yourself.”
“I know you didn’t. And that’s not what I meant.”
“Then how…?” His voice died away. Then, “Oh.”
“Now can I ask you a question?”
“Yes.” Wariness edged his tone.
“Do you think any less of me because I told you the truth?”
“I guess not.”
*****
I don’t care what your orientation is, this is a tender moment when intimate confidences are exchanged.
Please take a look at my novel Cut Hand. I really would like DSP Publications to bring out River Otter and Echoes of the Flute and Medicine Hair, as well as the unpublished Wastelakapi… Beloved, we have to generate some sales in order to get it done. Amazon permits you to read a short passage.
My contact information is provided below in case anyone wants to drop me a line:
Website and blog: markwildyr.com
Email: markwildyr@aol.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mark.wildyr
Twitter: @markwildyr
The following are some buy links for CUT HAND:
Thanks for being a reader. I'm going to adopt fellow Okie author Don Travis's mantra--with his permission--as my own: Keep on reading, keep on writing, and keep on submitting. You have something to say, so say it!
Mark
New blogs posted at 6:00 a.m. on the first and third Thursdays of each month.
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