A random snippet from book three of The Emissary

 

An excerpt from book three of my trilogy: The Emissary and Mindful Approaches to Everything Possibly Exploding

 

As of June 2023, unpublished, querying literary agents.

 

A still from The Emissary, a movie my husband and I made, and on which my books are based.

 

 

“That was our real skeletons, right?” Jim panted as they raced to his Saab.

 Next to the car, Andy jumped up and down. He waved his penny whistle wildly, like a bandmaster under attack by a swarm of hornets. 

“I could see the metal plate at the end of my radius! I broke it in karate when I was ten!”

Andy already had the car doors open for them. They dove in. 

Jim revved the engine. “Andy! Buckle up! We’re going to Jacksonport! We found it! Wafflequisp’s Ho-Made Country Dairy!” 

An animal growl of rage from the backseat startled him.

“What? What did I say?” 

“Wafflequisp,” grated Andy. “I hate that guy.”

“Well, you’re gonna love him, now.”

 Jim was electrified, excited, energized. Perhaps it was a side effect from whatever Koyper had done to their bodies, back in the office with his fake iPad. “That poor guy! You scared the daylights out of him!” But he shook his head and laughed. He couldn’t help it, as the adrenaline of relief fizzed throughout his body. “How’d you do that?”

Koyper squirmed in his seat, looking modest. “Oh, easy. That was old spectroscopist’s trick. De Broglie’s principle.”

Jim blinked at that. “Wait. Isn’t that…”

Koyper continued. “Every particle, every neutron, proton, electron and every atom, it is wave, also.” He tapped his temple with his finger. “And if you sing particle wavelength, you make particle shine.” Koyper shrugged. “I was thinking of calcium so I chose calcium. Hey, Andy,” Koyper swiveled around in his seat to face Andy in the backseat. 

“I am glad I gave you this instrument to play. I was not sure it was good idea at first.”

Comments

[Mary Schreiner]

Love this scene. I'm lucky. I've had the opportunity to beta read even more of this gem. Thanks for sharing Holly. Sci Fi/Solar Punk is not normally my genre but your book will entice me to read more. Can't wait for additional snippets. Additional bonus: It's set in Door County.

[JOHN BECK]

Penny whistle, wavelengths, calcium. Somehow I think we're going to see a relationship. Fun snippet, Holly.

[Holly Phaneuf Erskine]

Thank you John! You are such a loyal fan and your keeping up with my story means so much to me.
With your astronomy background I'm hoping you like the spectroscopy reference. Once upon a time long ago I made molecules sing--well, no, actually just their protons--with nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy as part of my work. Years later, I'm still enthralled with the idea that you can sing a particle's vibrations and make it respond. It's really deep when you think about it.

[Holly Phaneuf Erskine]

Mary, thank you for your kind comments. Your feedback in our group has made important positive changes in the story and I'm truly grateful.