The weekend means #Rainbowsnippets time. Because there have been a fair few articles in the news recently about the acceptance of gay players in the English Football League, and with the coming out of the first gay Premiership referee, I thought I’d give a little snippet from my self-published title, The District Line.
The District Line started life online on Wattpad, then made its way to the self publishing shelf and I am currently re working it now I’ve had the experience of being published and can use that knowledge to better the writing and the story.
So, a little background… The District Line (which is a London tube line for those who might not know) follows Jay, a working-class east London lad, who’s footballing career has had to take a hiatus when he’s released from his professional premiership academy under dubious circumstances. To pass the time and attempt to get scouted by another club, Jay ends up on a sports scholarship at a local university and there he literally bumps head first into Mike Saunders, a wannabe rock-star from the other end of The District Line – the much, much posher end.
This snippet is from the opening chapter where we get a little insight into what Jay has to deal with at home with his folks, who are both a little disappointed that his football career hadn’t gone to plan…
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“Football,” John shouted over the top of the local morning rag that he only ever read the back pages of.
Jay glanced down at his born and bred cockney father seated at the kitchen table, who’d remained quiet throughout the delectable conversation with his mother, and narrowed his eyes.
“That’s what your mind should be on.” John folded up the paper, slammed it onto the surface and slurped from his mug of milky builder’s tea.“That’s where the money is. Not in girls.”
Scraping his mug from the table, he stood and dropped it into the metal sink with a clang.
“You can have all the girls you want when you get back playing professional.”
With that, John slapped Jay hard in between his shoulder blades to the point of almost winding him, grabbed his keys from the sideboard and left the house in much the same way his mother had. The low growl of the diesel engine from his father’s van masked Jay’s deep throated one.
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The District Line is still available in its original form to purchase from Amazon and will be re-released in 2018.
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Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation. You can read all the other snippets from great authors here
