WIP Snippet: Champagne

Published by

Ariella Monti

December 30, 2023

Is your romance novel a romance novel if it doesn’t have even one glass of champagne?

Of course it is, but stereotypes exist for a reason.

Snippet challenges are fun because you quickly discover what words you gravitate towards and which ones you don’t. Writing happens in pieces and in order to keep moving forward, you have to skip focused line edits otherwise you’ll spend all of your time editing instead of writing.

The downside: It’s easy to forget what you wrote several paragraphs ago and repeat words you just used.

This week I had the opposite problem. If my characters drink champagne, it happens off-page because I have not one mention of the bubbly beverage. Since champagne is just sparkling wine from a very specific region of France, I used my favorite instance of wine to avoid #FridayKiss FOMO.

Black background with a single champagne glass on the right side of the image. Text reads: She leaned in a bit. "What did you want back then?"
Liam's eyes darkened and the corner of his mouth lifted into a half smile as though he relished reliving the days he could have anything.
"I wanted everything. Rare bottles of wine, invitations to exclusive parties, custom-tailored suits, the purest drugs, nameless sex with beautiful people." He wet his lips. His voice got low. "Power."
Emma's breath hitched in her chest and she fought to keep her composure. Maybe she was still attracted to toxic entitlement. Or maybe it was just Liam. The air had changed around them. Charged, like a lightning storm ready to strike. The tension pulled too tight and ready to snap.

About Friday Kiss

Each week author Gwynne Jackson posts a word prompt and encourages authors to share snippets from their works in progress (WIPs) that use the prompt or some variation of it. I love seeing how other writers utilize language and how words fit into their unique voice.

For regular #FridayKiss content, follow me on Instagram, Threads, Facebook, or BlueSky.

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Ariella is a disgruntled elder millennial who makes a living writing website content, teaching yoga, and writing romance with bisexual neurodivergent characters. She does those things in between being an OKish parent and a terrible Chief Domestic Officer. She regularly battles demons, the patriarchy, and laundry.

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