Look Here! The Look Meme

The talented and intriguing L.G. Smith over at Bards and Prophets tagged me in this Look Meme awhile back.  Her post is here.  It's fabulous.

Apparently I'm supposed to find the first time I use the word look in my WIP and paste in the surrounding paragraph(s).  Then tag some people.  So I am going to go with my actual WIP, Hold Still, rather than my second novel, Aberration since that is in edits right now.  The overused word look actually appears in Hold Still's first chapter but I already posted that bad boy here, so I'm going to with the next place it's found, the second chapter.  FYI, Hold Still is about a female Philadelphia detective who is tasked with solving a bizarre series of sex crimes.  Yeah, I don't have the pitch worked out totally yet.  This chapter is about one of the soon-to-be victims.

Here's the paragraph(s):

Her mother’s footsteps sounded in the hall.  Anita always recognized the sound of her mama’s footsteps—distinct from those of her children.  At ten and fourteen, Anita’s children had heavy feet—they trudged and clomped; her mother’s step was lighter.

            “She’s smoking,” her mother told Sasha.  “Go get in there and do your homework.”

            Sasha plodded off.  Anita’s mother rattled the door knob.  Anita opened the door and confronted her mother.  Lila Grant seemed shorter, smaller than ever.  The skin over her cheeks had hollowed out, making her face look sunken.  The skin was shiny and taut where her collarbones met at the hollow of her throat, two unnaturally large knobs.  The cancer treatments were wasting her down to nothing. 

            “Mama,” Anita said, her voice softening at the sight of her mother.  “I’m thirty four years old.  If I want to smoke, I’ll smoke.”

            Lila raised an eyebrow and sniffed the air, leaning slightly into the bathroom.  “Long as it’s just Newports.”  She took in Anita’s clothes and make up and folded her arms across her middle, her eyebrow a perfect steeple.  “Where you goin?”

            Anita sighed and gathered the cosmetics she’d left on the counter.  She swept them into her purse.  “Out,” she said.  Lila blocked the doorway.  She stared at Anita hard, the look in her eyes popping the cork on Anita’s long-held, bottomless well of guilt.  Lila glanced down the hall where they could both hear Sasha talking to her brother, Terrence. 

            “Nita,” her mother whispered, the word something between a plea and a warning. 

            Anita looked at her feet, swallowed and looked back at her mother, steeling her resolve.  “It’s not what you think, Mama.”

Some other tidbits, my Finding Claire Fletcher launch is just around the corner which means you'll be seeing me and my book everywhere you turn--I apologize in advance for the blitz.  To make up for it, I'll be hosting a giveaway along with the tour.  I'll be giving away 3 prizes:  a $25.00 Amazon gift card; a signed paperback copy of FCF and an ebook version of FCF.  Stay tuned for details.  It kicks off on 12/6! Once again, thank you so much to all my gracious hosts for your kindness, enthusiasm and generosity!

Finally, I am going to tag the following people for the LOOK Meme.  Only two! 

Julie Flanders at What Else is Possible

Jeff O at The Doubting Writer