WeWriWa: DK January 28, 2023

 

Welcome to a weekly post of Weekend Writing Warriors. If you'd like to check it out or give it a try, click here to go to wewriwa.blogspot.com

I've jumped back to Lily's story formerly referred to as Dai Klavven. That name is changing, but I haven't chosen the new name yet. For the time being, it will remain just 'DK'. 

So, moving forward. I'm working on finishing DK. My muse is being awfully quiet though. :-(   In this excerpt--the setup: Lily has been saved from the Bulragers by a "Sand" named Theusand. Sands can speak mind to mind. They are still traveling toward Theusand's home world, Tebrig, on the ship Lily was imprisoned on, but she's no longer in the lower level as a prisoner. She and Theusand are visiting a remote world where people are in hiding. Tonight, after dinner, they sit around in candlelight, telling stories and imbibing. 

Last week's snippet ended with: "“Our people...” he looked around at the children before continuing,” Your people, came from the stars spread out as the night sky above. They answered the call to a garden where they would be safe, welcome, and living amongst neighbors they would not fear.

“And so, they came: The builders, the cooks, the people who worked the land, singers and storytellers, poets and dreamers, those who would lead--and those who would follow." He paused, probably for effect, then added, "And it was good."

“Their journeys were hard but they were accomplished with glad determination. Our people were coming home, and all of its comforts waited for them."

“Water babbled in streams, water so sweet one could barely drink his fill. Aromatic clovers grew on vast plains where wild creatures grazed without fear of man. Children made chains of the flowers that dotted the hills and valleys.”

He reached into a cloth sack and pulled out necklaces made from the thin, silvery leaves she’d seen outside. Children eagerly grabbed for them as he handed them out. Every child thanked him, save for the babies too young to talk.

A little bit more if you're interested.

 When everyone was settled again, Spense looked at something distant, something Lily couldn’t see. She suspected none of them saw it because it was somewhere in his memories. His eyes misted over. “Children… We were all children then, relishing the innocence of a world unchallenged by hatred or greed. Our world was a garden, and peace and love were the crops we grew."

That's the snippet. Thank you so much for visiting. This is a WIP so comments are especially appreciated. :-)

WeWriWa DK 01-21-23

 

Welcome to a weekly post of Weekend Writing Warriors. If you'd like to check it out or give it a try, click here to go to wewriwa.blogspot.com

Sorry I've been absent. I've been grappling with a lot. But, I'm back--and plan on trying hard to remain that way.

Emmily Unbound is back with the editor for its second pass.

I've jumped back to Lily's story formerly referred to as Dai Klavven. That name is changing, but I haven't chosen the new name yet. For the time being, it will remain just 'DK'. I was researching names for the book earlier today, and discovered that no one else has a book with that title, but since Klavven is a made-up word, the dictionary suggested this: Klavern. 

Holy hell. Nope! That is a name for a local unit of the Klan.  

So, moving forward. I'm working on finishing DK. My muse is being awfully quiet though. :-(   In this excerpt--the setup: Lily has been saved from the Bulragers by a "Sand" named Theusand. Sands can speak mind to mind. They are still traveling toward Theusand's home world, Tebrig, on the ship Lily was imprisoned on, but she's no longer in the lower level as a prisoner. She and Theusand are visiting a remote world where people are in hiding. Tonight, after dinner, they sit around in candlelight, telling stories and imbibing. 

Others wandered into the large room, hauling their own cushions and small rugs. Candles flickered on shelves carved into the rock, their amber light casting dancing shadows on dark walls and expectant faces. Children snuggled into parent’s laps, their wide eyes searching the group.  From somewhere in the cave system, an animal bleated. 

Elder Spense cleared his throat and began. “Once, our people were free. We roamed our world, near and far, until the dark day when we fell under the shadows of large ships sailing our skies. That is a tale of our now. For the children, first I will tell of our past.

 “Our people...” he looked around at the children before continuing,” Your people, came from the stars spread out as the night sky above. They answered the call to a garden where they would be safe, welcome, and living amongst neighbors they would not fear.

That bit about answering a call to a garden? Sigh... This manuscript was written long before I ever saw a minute of The Expanse series... Just saying. :-) 

That's the snippet. Thank you so much for visiting. This is a WIP so comments are especially appreciated. :-)

 

Weekend Writing Warriors: Snow Angel

 

Welcome to a weekly post of Weekend Writing Warriors. If you'd like to check it out or give it a try, click here to go to wewriwa.blogspot.com

Emmily Unbound is now in my editor's queue for November 29th.

Sorry I've been absent. My husband has ongoing medical issues to which a heart attack was added a little over a week ago. After five days in the hospital, his recovery is slow. My job is at maximum stress levels. The wonderful young man that worked with me just moved on to a bigger, better, brighter-future job--the state's D.E.P. (I am so happy for him). After all of that... Across the Night Sky is more than I can tackle right now. I needed to write, not edit. Have you ever felt that way? 

So, moving forward. I'm working on a scifi-ish second-chance romance short story. Is that even a thing? Probably not. I'm enjoying the journey, though.  

I'm just going to start at the beginning. It's a long excerpt--meant to give you the twist taking the story into scifi-ish territory.

Sometimes Caroline tries to convince me I’m senile. Tries. And she’s doing it again. She doesn’t even set my groceries and medicine on the counter before she starts." 

“Whose footprints are on the porch?” Her voice turns scolding when she continues.  “Aunt Eva, you didn’t go outside to fill the bird-feeders, did you? Not in this snow!”

“I most certainly did not. You told me to stay inside when it’s icy or snowy, and I do.” 

She raises her brows as she tilts her head forward, like she’s dealing with a seven-year-old. “Then who left the tracks in the snow? They lead from the porch right out to the feeders and back again. And since you’re the only one here…”

It’s tempting to play dumb. Honesty will lead to that worn-out discussion about me moving into a senior care complex. Then I’ll tell her that senior care is a nice way of saying old folks’ home. It’ll go downhill from there, right to her telling me they don’t want to, but since I told them about my visiting spaceman, they doubt I can continue living on my own--that I can't sort out reality from make-believe. 

But I can.

That's the snippet. Thank you so much for visiting. This is a WIP so comments are especially appreciated. :-)

 

Weekend Writing Warriors: Across the Night Sky 32

 

 

Welcome to a weekly post of Weekend Writing Warriors. If you'd like to check it out or give it a try, click here to go to wewriwa.blogspot.com

I'm very close to asking my editor to put Emmily, Unbound into her queue. By the end of the weekend I will send that email.  And I admit, I. Am. Scared. To. Do. It.

Moving forward. Last week Veronica and Aurora pointed out that readers might not enjoy reading about real bodily functions. :-) I revisited that in my ms. and changed last week's snippet to reflect that change. The drool remains, though. :-)

This is a snippet from a WIP entitled Across the Night Sky. 

This is --I'm not sure what it is. lol. Space Opera. The romance is central. It is not HEA at the end of this book. (There are 4 books in this universe). It is a story of different cultures, different alien races, intolerance, and the tenacity of an abducted human woman dragged across the galaxy. Oh, and her love story with an alien man destined to be a ruler.

Marissa, abducted human, 20-something, is with an injured 'alien' man, Kuylerh. I'm in a new chapter. Kuylerh's rescue has arrived and once again, she's being abducted, but this time it's by his group. She's just had something used on her to subdue her.

Last week's snippet ended with:  While the old guard took a seat at what had to be the controls, her thoughts became a silent prayer. Please, wake me from this nightmare.

 

The snippet:

   

Where she sat, Rissa could only see out the little window beyond the controls, but she became surer by the second she wasn’t in Kansas anymore.

Kansas? She wasn’t even on the same planet.

Facing her abductor—that’s what he was after all--since  he’d taken her against her will—she couldn’t turn her head away.

Beyond him, through the tiny window, darkness was broken only by distant stars. In the pit of her stomach, something worse than nausea was going on. Flutters, then quivers, then it did a wallop of a somersault. Despite all the muscles ignoring her, her eyebrows were working just fine, lifting higher and higher. 

What a sight she must have been, her disbelief transforming into sheer terror right there in front of her kidnapper.  

Her mind raced. They really weren’t human, and that wasn’t Earth. 

A few more lines:

A sour taste rose in the back of her throat. Acceleration pushed her back into her seat. How had this happened? At the point of hysteria, she managed to make a sound. It was the best her paralyzed voice could pull off, and it didn’t sound at all like she was screaming for help.

 

That's the snippet. Thank you so much for visiting. This is a WIP so comments are especially appreciated. :-)