Chapter 1

This is from a book I wrote about a girl who has all my worst qualities.

It was the first warm night of the year. The karaoke bar had a faint, metallic pressure, like static before lightning. Everyone was more tense, more self-conscious, like the whole room hovered on a precipice.

Iris studied the well-dressed people around her, suddenly feeling pretentious in her Edwardian lawn dress. What made her think an antique garmen…