Run, Harry, Run!

Dear Maggie

Jun 2

Written By Tabitha Lord

Dear Maggie,

Weren’t you writing a romantic comedy? How’s it coming?

Sincerely,

Waiting in Walla Walla

Dear Waiting,

Yes, and I am writing the last chapter as we speak! It’s the best feeling when the end of the novel is in sight. All the heavy lifting is behind me, and the words tumble out. This romantic comedy titled Run, Harry, Run started as a short story for one of my writing workshops at school, and I liked the characters and storyline so much that I decided to turn it into a full length novel.

I also had to do a synopsis writing exercise for class, so I used that opportunity to develop the long form version of the story. A novel synopsis is its own special beast. Essentially, it’s a short summary of the plot and major character arcs which should also showcase your writing style, tone, and voice. Let me just say, it’s a daunting task to distill all the narrative from an entire manuscript down to two pages with precision and flair. However, using the synopsis to develop this particular story turned out to be a great tactic. It acted as a roadmap to keep me on track.

I generally outline my stories before I start writing anyway, but it’s an informal thing where I have enough to get going, but I haven’t worked out all the details yet. Turns out, really distilling the main plot, character arcs, and resolution made the writing process quicker and smoother for me. In fact, the first thing I’ll be doing with my thesis project is writing the synopsis.

Anyway, if you missed the teaser for Run, Harry, Run that I shared a while back, you can read it HERE. Also, since you’ve been waiting so patiently for me to create new content, and I’ve been slower to roll since I started grad school, I’m going to share a second little teaser from the story, this time from Zach’s perspective. Enjoy!

Zach thinks he hears a dog barking in the distance, but he’s got music playing as he loads up the cardboard moving boxes, so he isn’t sure, that is until his big black lab, Gabby, trots to the front door and lets out a few enthusiastic woofs of her own.
He drops another armful of clothes into the box and wanders to the door.
“I heard it too, girl,” he says, petting the silky dark fur on Gabby’s ear. “There are a few cabins nearby. It’s probably just a neighbor’s dog.”
He talks to his own dog like she’s a person. Sometimes, she’s the only one he talks to, about the important stuff anyway.
Gabby nudges his thigh with her head, nearly pushing him into the wall. She’s not a pure-bred retriever. She’s far too barrel-chested, and at barely under eighty-five pounds, she’s well over the average weight for the breed. Didn’t matter to Zach one bit that she wasn’t a show dog. When he’d found her, just a tiny pup, dirty and shivering in a gas station parking lot on the sketchy side of town, he’d scooped her up and taken her home. Well, he’d taken her to the emergency vet first, to make sure she was okay, and to check for one of those tracker thingies, but after that, she was his.
The barking outside continues, and it sounds like it’s growing closer. Zach opens the front door and steps out onto the rickety front porch. The floor boards creek beneath him, and not in a reassuring sort of way. He sighs, it’s one more thing he’ll have to fix in this cabin, a place he hasn’t yet determined whether he wants to keep or burn to the ground.
In the distance, a small grayish shape bounds down the dirt driveway. Gabby whines and wags her tail so fiercely that the motion almost knocks them both over.
“Easy girl,” he says softly. “Sit. Stay.”
Gabby plops down onto her bottom, still emitting a high-pitched whine. Zach has trained her so well that she won’t dare move from this spot until he gives her the ‘release’ command, but she’s a talker, and she’s letting him know she’s very excited about this new visitor.
Zach takes a cautious step toward the small dog, who has now reached the bottom step of the cabin. Tongue lolling out of its mouth, and little chest heaving, the dog stops and flops down onto its belly, as if it’s just used up the last of its energy.
“Hey buddy,” Zach says, with a smile. “How’re you doing?”
The dog actually smiles at him.
He can’t help his own surprised laugh, and then the dog rolls onto its back, requesting a belly rub in the universal language of dogs.
Zach still approaches carefully. Smaller dogs can be unpredictable and high-strung, but Zach suspects this one is not. He lets the dog sniff his hand, and the little guy–yup it’s a boy–gives his hand a lick. Zach proceeds to scratch his belly.
“What’s all this?” he asks, plucking at a bit of black fabric.
Strangely, it looks like the dog is wearing a tuxedo vest.
“Well, aren’t you a handsome boy, all dressed up. Where’d you come from?”
The dog flips back over and shakes himself from head to tail. When something jingles from his collar, Zach’s eyes widen.
“These look like rings, and you’re all dressed up,” he says, an odd thought taking shape his mind.
Behind him, Gabby woofs.
“Oh right. Sorry, girl. You want an intro.”
He grips the small dog gently by his collar and invites Gabby over. The two sniff and lick each other enthusiastically.
“Let’s see if you have any tags,” Zach says.
Sure enough, there’s a little silver tag in the shape of a bone dangling from the collar. It reads HARRY, and below that, IF LOST, CALL ELLIE, and below that a phone number.
“Ellie,” Zach says, and the little dog smiles again.