DANI NOIR will be published on September 22, but in the meantime, Simon & Schuster has made the first chapter available online. Here’s a little taste:
I take a seat on my bed. My mom put my suitcase there—it’s open, empty, waiting for me to shove it full of stuff to take with me. I look at it, and I’ve lost all the bars on my cell phone, and no one’s calling anyway, and I ask myself the only question worth asking: What would Rita Hayworth do?
Rita Hayworth was this old Hollywood movie star—all glamour and mystery like in those black-and-white movies people like to call “films.”
Most kids my age have no clue who she is. When they think of a big movie star they think of someone like Jessica Alba. But if Jessica and Rita Hayworth were in the same scene and the cameras were rolling you’d forget Jessica was even there. And that’s not to dis Jessica Alba.
All I’m saying is Rita Hayworth was something. Say there was this movie and both Rita Hayworth and Jessica Alba were in it. Jessica would say her lines and she’d be great like usual, but then it would be Rita Hayworth’s turn.
Rita Hayworth would toss her hair (red in real life, but in black-and-white it could be any color). She’d blink super slow, like she was underwater. Then she’d turn, finally, and settle her eyes on Jessica. It would take a few seconds but feel like forever and you wouldn’t be able to stop staring. Then Rita Hayworth would say maybe one word, drawing it out, making it sound like the most beautiful word anyone could say, like, in any language, ever. The word could be “hi” or “mayonnaise,” it doesn’t matter. And before you know it, Rita Hayworth will have eaten Jessica Alba alive.
That’s why I think of her. Rita Hayworth wouldn’t let anyone push her around, not even Mom and Dad. She’d do what she wanted, and no sorrys after.
Rita Hayworth could hide her emotions down where you’d never find them. She’d make you think she didn’t care when, really, she cared more than anything. And if someone told her to go someplace—because it’s the law and the state of New York says so — what she’d do is wait till you weren’t looking, and then she’d leave for someplace else.
So I decide to make things a little more difficult. Not for myself—for my dad.
Read more from Chapter 1 here.
And, if you’re on Facebook, you can become a fan of DANI NOIR by going here. My plan is to keep the Facebook page updated with any DANI-related news, so keep an eye out.
In the meantime, about a month away from the pub date of my first novel, I’m working hard on the first draft of a new book. It’s YA and it’s magical realism and it’s called IMAGINARY GIRLS. More on that soon!