Birthday + Finding Fiona Sample

Two things:

1. Today is my birthday! I'm twenty-three years old :)

2. I'm ready to start the last polishes on Finding Fiona! The ARCs should be ready by next week.

In celebration, I'm going to post a small excerpt from the first chapter of Finding Fiona that has to do with birthdays. Fiona's just met someone from her past, someone who tells her things about her mysterious past, but not nearly enough. He leaves her with a journal he says used to belong to her and promises to contact her soon.

***

A knock on her table made Fiona jump. She slammed the journal shut. Troy stood by the booth, frowning. “Is your phone off or something?”

Fiona shoved the journal under her purse–she didn’t feel like explaining to Troy why she’d gotten in a car with a stranger–and pulled out her phone. “Oh, would you look at that. I’m so popular.”

Troy nodded to her lap. “What’s that?”

“A journal I bought in the bookshop a couple stores over.” Fiona shrugged.

“Another dream journal? You fill up your last one?”

“No, but this one was. . .pretty,” she said, placing it on the table. “And soft.”

Troy looked at it for a moment and shrugged. “I’m going to get a coffee.”

Fiona frowned, wishing Troy would go back to whatever he was doing before. It’d definitely look weird if she opened a newly bought journal to reveal dozens of pages filled with her handwriting. While his back was turned at the checkout stand, she peeked at the third entry.

March 16th

It’s Mom’s birthday today! Dad and I took her out for Indian food like we do every year. Dad got her these gorgeous diamond earrings. I’m pretty much broke, but I bought her a new purse from the flea market. It’s purple and shimmery and I think it’d look perfect with that lavender top she’s always wearing.

Fiona had to stop and take a deep breath. A couple weeks ago, Hannah and Fiona went to an Indian restaurant. The smell of the curry, the taste of the chicken, and the sizzling sounds from the kitchen–all of them had triggered deep emotions inside Fiona. She’d had to go to the bathroom to fight back unexplained tears and splash her face with water. She’d simultaneously wanted to run from the place screaming and stay to try to figure out the reason for her reaction.

The entry continued:

Spring break is coming up, but I don’t have any huge plans. The Remus project is so fascinating, I might just stay in the lab all week! If James lets me. He says I work there too much. I do miss him (and sunlight) when I’m there too long, but I feel like we’re really making improvements.

Troy returned to the table, and Fiona shut the journal, trying to look casual although her heart was pounding.

***

If you're interested in an ARC, leave a comment and I'll send you one as soon as it's ready! Otherwise, Finding Fiona will be published in September! I love exclamation points!