Beta Readers Challenge 1

BY 
davidfoxfire

Published: August 13, 2010
Beta Reader's Prompt Challenge #1

The Challenge

Pick one of your stories. It could be the book you're writing, the short story you're working on, something you've already posted. Write a few paragraphs that describe how your protagonist spends the week before the story starts. Now do the same for your antagonist, if your antagonist is a person.
The Story

Johnny Briz Script Frenzy: I usually pick the project I'm currently working on.  This project details the origin story of Johnny Briz, the mouse character I had for almost three decades.  In the script, Johnny is a rising action star with dreams of being the next Mickey Mouse.  Unfortunately, before he could even attempt his dreams, he stumbled into an expanding ray that grew him to cartoon size: Two feet six, about 50 pounds.  He flees the lab the experiment was in and stumbles into Amber Merichello, a rising animator who's dreams of being in a major company are unrequited.  Together they start making Youtube videos that resemble classical cartoons and they go viral.  So viral that Johnny's a celebrity and attracting the attention of some very shady characters, including a producer who's worse than Uwe Boll.
Because the story is made 'found footage' style, meaning it was a compilation of various video files string together, made with some skill on a desktop computer, the antagonist has already been dispatched--I also don't want to spoil that part--but I can still do the protagonist part.
The submission:

Terri found her little mousie boy sunning himself in the backyard by the pool.  He usually wakes up the earliest anyway, and she caught him at the end of his morning ritual.  It was similar to the Jersey Shore's GTL: Gym, Tanning, Laundry.  Only it's not in any set order, and being a mouse with a body covered in gray, brown, and beige fur, Johnny can't tan.  He can, on the other hand, warm up under the sun which is good for soothing any muscles from his morning exercises.  Terri remembers waking up to the sound of him on the home gym;  Johnny could almost be an alarm clock.
By the time Terri stirred awake, Johnny had already put his dirty clothes in the washer, thanks to a well placed stepladder so he won't have to climb his way up thee side of the washer, and after a quick splash in the pool went around the block on a jog.  When she's up and about and walking into the kitchen, he was already back and is now on the patio, wearing only a pair of blue shorts, his ears twitching to pick up her steps.
She didn't have to say "Morning, Johnny," to have him know she was behind him.  Those large ears can pick up a butterfly from across the block.
"We've got new neighbors," Johnny said.  "Ran into them while I was going around the block."
Terri smiled as she walked up to him.  She ran her fingers over his brown hair.  "I saw the moving van across the back."
Johnny's back arched, like a cat, and he let out a soft murr.  "That's the place.  They also weren't warned about me."
Terri giggled.  "They took one look at you and freaked out, I'd bet."
Johnny chucked out a "heh-hah," which sounded like a more famous mouse you'd expect to live in Celebration, Florida.  "Yeah, they thought I was some character CM up north in the parks.  Once they got out of their 'eeek a giant mouse' mode I was able to introduce myself."
In Celebration, Florida.  Up north meant the Walt Disney World complex.  Celebration was built just south of Disney World and still is part of the development area the resort is on.  And in the local lingo, CM is short for Castmember, your basic employee 'up north.'
"And what do they think of you now."
Johnny rolled over, showing his molded and fuzzy chest.  "That Disney's experimenting with trying to make a live Mickey.  The dad thought they almost succeeded."
The two couldn't help but snicker.
"Oh well," Terri said, "I'm about to make breakfast.  Go wake up Amber, will ya?"
Johnny got up and bounded over to the hall, pausing near Terri so she can scritch his head again.
The father in the new family wasn't too far off with Johnny, although the experiment that made him toon-sized wasn't intended to be used on him.  Before then he was your common fancy-furred wild mouse in a colony between Animal Kingdom and Epcot.  Anthropomorphic, though he is.  But he still has the traits like the big ears, the cute face, the spotted fur and being silent when he needs to be.  Amber wasn't even aware that Johnny had left his bed in her room, nor did she knew that he returned until he was about to pounce on top of her.
And that was only because she fluttered an eye open at that moment.
"Don't you think about it," Amber said in a voice that she could only get by being between sleep and wakefulness.
"You're no fun," the pair of green eyes under the twitching nose said back to her.
Instead, Amber decided to sit up and grab Johnny for a big hug.  "Morning, you little scrapper."
"Aw, you're too kind now," Johnny quips.  "You're going to do that big compile on our movie today.
Amber nodded, but then she yawned.  "After I had breakfast, of course."

Because I can use these writing prompts in #Beta-Readers to help with my books, and even promote the characters and stories (not to mention help jump over some nagging writer's blocks) I gladly make my submission to their first writer's block.

This one is about Johnny Briz, about how he spends the morning before Amber starts compiling his big first film in her computer. He had a big adventure that sprawled all over the Orlando area, and had him deal with a producer that makes me look like Spielberg...and might remind some of a person you love to kick around.

I'm in the open door draft version, which includes illustrations and side notes. After which, I'll put it online at my site along with a brand new Johnny Briz page on my web site.

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