I’m participating in the A to Z blogger challenge this year. Since April also is the anniversary month for the release of my novel, ’Til Death Do Us Part, I thought I’d use that for the theme of my posts. For each letter I will come up with a word that is pertinent to the story, and post a short excerpt featuring it.

In general these excerpts will bounce around the timeline (after all, the story isn’t told in alphabetical order). No worries, I’ll give a little context leading into each scene so it won’t be necessary to read the others to enjoy the snippet-of-the-day.

Y is for Yucky

The survivors are all in agreement that this particular seaweed salad Henry has dished up is “yucky.” This scene takes place fairly early in their time on the island and is told from Henry’s 1st-person POV:

“Bleh,” said Devon.

I quirked an eyebrow. “You asked for it.”

He looked at the coconut shell full of acanthorphora, commonly known as spiny sea plant, and shrugged.

“So this should work?” asked Garrett, poking suspiciously at the seaweed.

“Come on,” I said. “We’ve had this in our salads before.”

“Not a whole bowl of it,” protested Devon. “Just a little bit mixed in.”

“You’re exaggerating. There’s papaya mixed in with it. It’s not that bad,” I replied. I took a mouthful of the stuff and grimaced. Damn. Maybe it was that bad.

“Yucky,” announced Buddy.

“Look on the bright side,” said Garrett. “At least we’re all in agreement on something.”

“Eat it,” I told Buddy. “It’ll help you poop.”

Buddy scowled and stared doubtfully at the bowl of spiny greens. Then he rubbed his tummy and sighed. He was hungry, and he was feeling the effects of the constipation from which we were all suffering, so he didn’t put up any more fuss on the subject and just ate it. The silver lining to the problem of not having a pantry full of snack options was that Buddy tended to eat what he was given. It was that or go hungry.

Blurb

Henry and Sam Miller-Greene are living the dream. They love their careers — which afford each of them opportunities to travel to exotic locations — they love their home, Sam’s caring family, and each other. They disagree on the subject of adoption, but are fully committed to each other in marriage … ’Til Death Do Us Part.

The dream is shattered when Henry’s plane crashes, and he’s presumed dead. But four people — Henry, two other men, and a child — survive undetected on a remote, small, and insignificant island. Will Sam and Henry’s love be able to survive as well?

Henry fights to endure in harsh conditions, never knowing when disaster will strike. Sam struggles with his loss, but with help moves on with his life. Will Sam be able to put aside his new love when he reunites with Henry?

Info & Links: ’Til Death Do Us Part