Obviously, calling it a book teaser is terribly premature, because at this point my manuscript is in the hands of only one agent and many others have rejected my query, but I wanted to share the 100-word microfiction story that is the seed from which my novel grew (and happened to earn first place in that round of the NYCM challenge). Perhaps this will give you a snippet of my novel’s main character, June, who, at just 14, makes the life-changing decision to hop a train in order to find work as her family suffers the boot to the neck that is the Great Depression.

Jump

I’m shakin’ like mad when I reach the hobo camp. I see men everywhere, drinkin’ hooch, warmin’ hands over firepits, cookin’ something so’s the air smells like steak, like family. I tuck my hair under my cap again, scared they’ll know, even though I hacked it off. I hear a train rumble like thunder. The roar swallows the beat of my heart. I sprint toward the tall reeds along the tracks, hear the boots of dozens of men doin’ the same. Now, June! I leap, grab the handle, stumble into the car, and pray I will survive.