Friday, April 5, 2013
Llullu the Llama's Debut!
This is Llullu the llama - a character from a book I'm posting this month. It's funny (at least I hope so) sci-fi and is called; DR. AWKWARD: The Adventures of Bob Palindrome in Space. It's a serial novel and I'm just waiting on the cover.
So, Llullu is a miniature llama. In the future, there are no dogs, so Bob Palindrome has a miniature llama - about two feet tall. I found this realistic llama online and bought it. Then I spent the weekend gluing eyelashes on her because she didn't look feminine enough.
Yes, I'm still working on getting the Bombay book up - this is something different.
I did a little photo shoot of Llullu in my office. To simulate space, I used this weird scrapbooking paper. It came out like this:
Not bad - right? The flash set off the sparkles to look like stars. I am also working on making her a space suit. I have a graphic designer trying to do that now for the cover.
Anyway, I thought I'd share a snippet with you, about Llullu, because she has quickly become my favorite character - even though she didn't exist in the first draft at all. My critique group wants to start experimenting with DNA and llama breeding, because they too, now want a miniature llama.
Here's the sneak peek:
Walking
into the small, grey cottage he called home, Bob dropped his keys into a dish
inside the front door and propped the mannequin leg against the wall. Within seconds a black and white miniature
llama trotted into the room, rubbed her head on Bob’s knee and batted eyelashes
a super model would kill for.
Fortunately, since super models were exiled to their own planet
(apparently, they made people feel bad about themselves) this was no longer an
issue.
“Hey
Girl,” He rubbed the soft spot between her ears and the llama made a purring
sound. By the time he sat down in his
favorite chair, Llullu the llama had brought him his newspaper disc and a
rather drooly pair of slippers. She
settled down at his feet and proceeded to chew on the carpet.
Bob
leaned back and closed his eyes. Heaven,
he thought. Just like back in my
grandpa’s day. Just me and a dog…well,
llama to bring me my paper and slippers.
The fact he slipped and said “dog” made him sad for a moment. Ever since the Mad Canine Flu, dogs had
become, more or less against their wishes, extinct. Humanity had to make due with whatever they
could (there was even an extremely brief revival of the Pet Rock craze), but
things just weren’t the same.
Here's another scene - one of my favorites featuring Llullu:
Bob picked up his bottle of beer
and went into the kitchen to find food.
Not
dinner, mind you. That would imply
preparation on his part. Bob pulled a
log of sausage and block of cheese from the fridge and got a sharp knife from
the drawer. Llullu trotted into the
kitchen and sank onto the linoleum, legs splayed in every direction.
Bob
put the knife on top of the sausage and began to slice downward.
Click.
He
looked at the knife. It hadn’t made
contact with the cutting board yet. And
under normal circumstances, as far as he knew, sausage did not go click.
The
sound seemed quieter than before. He put
the knife down and walked into the living room and stood there, waiting. Bob waited long enough to feel completely
idiotic and when there was no corresponding sound, he headed back into his
kitchen.
Llullu
was standing on the table with the sausage log pointing at the ceiling, halfway
down her throat. She tried to look
sheepish, but instead just looked as though she’d been impaled by
lunchmeat. Bob sighed and walked toward
her. He detached the meat from his pet
and cut off the part she’d drooled on.
After slicing up the cheese, he carried his plate back into the living
room and joined his beer.
So that's Llullu the llama. The first serial comes out in April, the next installment, TACO CAT should be out in June.
I think Llullu would make a nice addition to our pirate crew.
The Assassin
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13 comments:
All in favor, drink rum!
You know, I was talking to my mom about aliens this week. Space aliens. And said, "What if they don't want to take over the earth, or save us from our own stupidity. What if they just want our extra dogs and cats? Because pets don't exist in space?"
Mom laughed and looked a little confused. But willing to go along.
Maybe we need to write a book together, Leslie. We seem to think alike...
(Pirates run in every direction...)
I told the boys they couldn't have a dog. But a llama....
It has potential.
Do they take to housetraining?
This serial sounds great, Leslie. Good luck with it.
And in space? How much fun. :)
I love that you glued eyelashes on the llama. I'm not sure why I laughed hysterically at that, but I did.
*LOL* I love her!!! I'm so glad you're writing this story...I love the weird-absurd it's got going on...hilarious. And I absolutely am behind the thought of banning all supermodels to their own planet. Can we do this now?
I <3 Lulu! She's funny and adorable--and smart too. :) A perfect pet. But the thought of a world without dogs makes me sad.
Maureen - I'd TOTALLY write a book with you!
Marnee - I laughed hysterically when putting the eyelashes on. It made it very difficult.
Hellie - Yes, I really wish we could.
Janga - me too.
I love Llulu! And I might love her even more for the extra L in her name. I've been trying to figure out what pet I can slide into book 3. Bingo! (No worries, I wouldn't actually steel your idea. Tempting as it is.)
I second Hellie's Supermodel Relocation Request. And I LOVE that Llulu was smart enough to get him out of that kitchen. LOL! Can't wait to see her space suit.
cute pets work, like guinea pigs, pugs, etc.
I have the first line. "First, they came for our cats."
Llulu is adorable!
Don't know much about llamas, except that they spit sometimes when annoyed or frightened, and occasionally make the most horrible noise. Went out one night to feed the horse and heard this dreadful, screechy, wailing sound. Thought maybe the chubacabra really did exist. Turned out to be the neighbors' llamas fussing about a coyote.
It would be neat if I could miniaturize the Wonder Horse to Llulu's side. Would make him so much more manageable.
Oh, I'd love to see the Wonder Horse dash his tiny feet in rabid anger at the infidels...in miniature form. *LOL*
Funny you should mention coyotes - llamas are often used to guard sheep from coyotes. Who knew?
Llulu is absolutely adorable. Can't wait for the book to come out.
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