ExcerpTuesday: B. A. Binns

B. A. Binns is the pseudonym of Barbara Binns who writes to attract and inspire old and young alike with stories of “real boys growing into real men…and the people who love them.” PULL is her debut young adult novel, told from the POV of its seventeen-year-old protagonist, David. David struggles with the loss of his mother, responsibility for his younger sisters, and a deepening attraction to the forbidden: Yolanda Dare, better known as “The Dare.” Yolanda belongs to the school’s bad boy, a young man who threatens both David and his younger sister.

Please visit the author on line at www.babinns.com



EXCERPT:

No girl has ever made me feel like holding her in my arms and making her smile and--

And nothing. This is The Dare. Malik’s girl. And I can’t let myself feel what I’m feeling.

She takes a long slow deep breath and looks like a scrub that’s just missed the game-winning free throw as she turns toward the door. “I need to get inside and mix,” she tells me.

I take her arm and guide her back into the kitchen. Thank God it’s empty again. Some slow song is playing and soft music flows through the room. Instead of letting her go, I say, “Dance with me.”

Her breath catches. She stands motionless, like she’s waiting for an echo.

So I try again. “Dance with me.”

The coat drops to the floor and she moves into my arms and it feels--right. Usually I dance with taller girls, girls who rest their head on my shoulder or kiss my neck while we slow dance. Usually there’s no head against my chest, right where my heart beats. And usually I don’t feel this tightness in my body. Not just the boner. Yeah, that’s getting painful and needy, but there’s something else going on. I want more. Even though going after more of her could destroy what I have right now.

I pull Yolanda tighter, and breathe in the scent of her hair. My heart pounds like a pile driver when she looks up at me. Her lips are so close, full and red. If I just bend a little more…

She suddenly stiffens. Her eyes flare when she pulls herself from my arms and steps back.

I feel like part of me’s missing. Like I have only the tiniest part of what I need. How could this happen? She’s all wrong for me. She’s Malik’s Dare.

I thrust my hands in my pockets to keep them from shaking.

This time when Yolanda heads for the door to the dining room, I let her leave.

My father’s voice streams through my head. No real man lets a woman tear him down.

My teeth clench and in my mind I scream, Shut up. But his words remain and I know I can’t be a real man. Not and let myself be torn this way. I don’t know how it happened. But I’d do anything, give anything, to keep Yolanda Dare with me.

ExcerpTuesday - Katie Hines

Katie Hines visits today and shares an excerpt from her latest: Guardian.

“This is a secret meeting,” Drew Newman whispered as he pulled his letterman’s jacket close. He sat perched on a log beside the crackling fire. “You can’t tell anyone what we’re going to talk about.”
“Dude, I’m a ‘real man.’ Of course I can keep a secret.” Javon Manson fiddled with his do-rag.
Mattie Royz shivered as a chill wind tossed her red hair into blue eyes. “Oh my gosh, Javon, you are so lame. I’m not a ‘real man,’ but I can keep a secret, too.”
“All right.” As Drew slid the marshmallow off his roasting stick he heard a noise and turned toward the trees that stood beyond the flickering light of the fire.
At that moment, a tall man carrying a sword stepped from the night’s shadows and approached the teens, a dark hood hiding his face. A gust of wind tossed his long, black cloak aside, revealing a pristine white tunic. A red sash belted his waist.
Drew sucked in his breath as the man cat-walked up to him.
“Stand up,” the man commanded, pointing his sword at Drew. Shaking, Drew gulped and stood. The man lifted the tip of his sword to Drew’s chin. “Where is the book?”
Drew was so nervous he couldn’t think. “What book?”
“It’s a very special book,” the man prodded again. “You know which one.”
Drew wiped his sweaty hands on his Levi’s, inhaling the familiar, pungent odor of the campfire. Only one book was special--a journal. His mom’s journal. He’d touched it, and when he’d done so, it had left a peculiar webbed scar on the back of his left hand. What could this man know about it?
“Are you talking about my mom’s journal?” Drew asked.
“Your mom’s, hmm. Yes, that would be it. Where is it?”
“I don’t know. It must be lost because I haven’t seen it in years.”
“This book is not lost,” the man said, his voice flat and hard.
A second man wearing a black leather jacket and jeans slid out from the night’s shadows. The two men whispered. The interrogator looked at Drew. “You are fortunate that pressing matters require my attention elsewhere. I will see you again.”
At that, both men stepped away and disappeared into the darkness. The three teens stared at each other. A soft, cool rain began to fall as Javon hollered, “Run! Run!”


BIOGRAPHY FOR KATIE HINES:

Katie Hines has been writing snippets here and there as long as she can remember. When in 8th grade, she wrote a short story called, “Underworld.” Then, in high school, she wrote several poems that were published in an anthology.

Marriage and raising two children contributed to putting away writing for a few years, but she came back to it while in her 40s. Since that time, she has been a contributing feature writer and columnist for a local newspaper, has written several features articles for another area newspaper, and wrote religious and humor articles for an online Catholic ezine.

Her short story, “My Name is Bib,” was published by the Loch Raven Review in October, 2008.

Finished with “Guardian,” a middle grade urban fantasy, Hines is currently working on another middle grade novel, as well as a couple of chapter books, and is extending “My Name is Bib” into a full young adult novel.


BUYING INFORMATION:

Book to be released in January. Can be purchased at that time from http://4rvpublishingllc.com/ Amazon.com, bn.com and ordered by your local bookseller.