Dubious minotaurs...

Not really apropos anything, but I liked the image - created courtesy of Poser Pro 2014.  Yes, I'm playing with a new toy...

Sorrel Snowbound has a cover!

And I finally have a cover for Sorrel Snowbound!

SFFSat 2/3/13

This is my snippet this week for SFFSat. SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. Please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here.


I missed last week - blame real life for getting in the way. This week my snippet is from Sorrel Snowbound, which will be the sequel to Sorrel in Scarlet.  My hope is to publish it some time around the end of April.  These are the first ten lines of the novel.

A scream echoed from the towers, a banshee wail of mingled rage, loss and despair. Above us the ever-present clouds that closed the night sky of the Chasm were still reflecting the red glare of the fires that were tearing Daryan apart. But the dragon that had been floating like a vengeful ghost above the graalur army, casting fiery death into the ranks of the invading soldiery, was no longer there.

And that was why I was screaming.

Impatient hands gripped my shoulders, trying to pull me towards the stairs. Voices shouting in my ears, telling me that he was gone, that we had to go. I took a shuddering breath and wrenched out of their embrace, struggling to the top of the battlements again, my eyes vainly scanning the seething ground around the city. The walls that we had told them were weak had fallen in two places, and the bellowing, gleeful graalur were pouring inside. Way back, beyond the emptying encampments, a small cluster of figures, a few dozen at most, were heading away from the doomed, crumbling city, not waiting to see the results of their victory.

And with them was Wrack. 

 Comments welcomed!

SFFSat 16/2/13

This is my snippet this week for SFFSat. SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. Please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here.


This week my snippet is from Sorrel Snowbound, which will be the sequel to Sorrel in Scarlet.  My hope is to publish it some time around the end of April. In this sequence, Sorrel is remembering a planning meeting, where a group of people were trying to decide how to protect a neighbouring city.

 

    I should have kept my trap shut then. If I had, maybe Wrack would still be here. But as usual I opened my big mouth. “The lloruk won’t bypass the city to pursue the evacuees if there’s a fighting force in the city. We can hold the graalur for a few days before the city falls, give time for everyone to get to Tolgrail and prepare there. With the extra numbers, Tolgrail can be held. All we need is a small force to hold Daryan for a week or so.”

    I wish I had a five-bell coin for every time I had said something that dumb. I’d have enough to pay for a permanent gag. 

As always, all comments gratefully welcomed!

 

SFFSat 9/2/13

This is my snippet this week for SFFSat. SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. Please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here.

This snippet carries on from the last episode. Sorrel was in lethal combat with a graalur, when a gigantic predator decided to interrupt their activities. Sorrel leaps clear, and then turns to see what is happening.

    The graalur had carved away half the nightmare's tentacles, but it had struck home effectively with the rest. The graalur was bleeding profusely from wounds in his left shoulder and the side of his face, and one of the tentacles was embedded in his left forearm. He was weakening visibly. The creature was pumping out dark blue ichor from the wounded head, and he hacked at the side of its neck desperately. He was crying out in anger and pain. If I intervened I might be able to defeat it and save him. All common sense, however, told me to get the volg out of there.

    I got the volg out of there.

This is the last extract from this chapter of Sorrel in Scarlet.  Next time I'm hoping to put up a small sequence from the sequal, Sorrel Snowbound.

SFFSat 2/2/13

This is my snippet this week for SFFSat. SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. Please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here.

This snippet carries on from the last episode. Sorrel is in lethal combat with a graalur, when a newcomer enters the fray...

The creature was at least seven feet long, small bat wings behind its neck beating wildly to lift the gigantic head away from the ground as the dozen spindly legs carried the snake-body towards us. This thing was never meant to fly, but the wings enabled it to rear up well above my head, even if I had been standing. The sleek, brilliantly-coloured blue and scarlet hide was rippling as it flung itself at us. The head divided where its mouth should have been into a cluster of long, writhing violet tentacles, each tipped with a vicious-looking spine. It did not appear to have any eyes, but it was homing in upon us without any difficulty.

The graalur spun, and hacked at the three-foot tentacles as they lashed at him. I couldn't fault him for courage - I just flung myself away, leaving him to face the monstrosity. I had no idea what this thing was - it could be a ruzdrool or an inskiir, or even an adjalik. Frankly, I didn’t care. I snatched up Crest's sword - he wouldn't be needing it again - and turned to see what was happening...

 Comments welcomed!

SFFSat 26th January 2013

This is my snippet this week for SFFSat. SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. Please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here.

This snippet carries on (albeit edited) from last time's events. Sorrel was in a desperate fight with a graalur (think orc) nicknamed Three. He has knocked her down, and believes she is unconscious. He is injured, too, and is tending his wound. Sorrel is not as badly hurt as he thinks...

My sword was feet away, and I wouldn't reach it before he saw the movement. 

If I could find a loose rock… there's always a loose rock when you're walking, lurking and waiting malevolently to twist your ankle. But when you actually need one, when your life depends on it, the ground is as smooth and rock-less as a ballroom floor. I had to act quickly, before he was ready to come and deal with me.

I rolled sideways, flinging myself at him bodily, going for his sword. If I could get it, he'd be unarmed. Good theory- big if. He saw me move - he'd obviously been half-watching me while he was patching himself up, and he grabbed for his sword before I was within a foot of him. I slammed into his legs, trying to take him down - and there was a new shriek, a different timbre to anything I'd heard before. The graalur and I tumbled onto the ground, both of us equally distracted as a new participant joined the fray.

 My snippet next week will reveal the identity of the newcomer...

Comments welcomed!