#darkling snippet

[author-a-holmes]

Last Line tag

Sorry if you guys get a double @ from me! Tumblr decided to post this into one of my communities the first time.

Your guess is as good as mine.

Thank you for the tag @oh-no-another-idea, tagging forward to @meharker, @memento-morri-writes, @dyrewrites, @josephinegerardywriter, @world-of-fire-and-flight-admin, and anyone else who wants to play, please consider this an open tag.

My last (3) line(s) on the Darkling (Re)Draft Three was...

(Yes I'm cheating, sue me lol <3)

[...] now that he'd shown her what was hidden beneath, Lizzy could still see the hints of it. In the laugh lines at the corners of his eyes, and in the soft, curved slope of his shoulders. "Is it not enough that I simply want to?" Connorbar asked, but she found herself shaking her head.

[author-a-holmes]

Unofficial Nanowrimo

Aka November Darkling Updates!

Previous: Day 0 | 2nd | 4th | 6th [Today] | 8th | 10th | 12th | 14th | 16th | 18th | 20th | 22nd | 24th | 26th | 28th | 30th | Post Nano Update

November 5th is Guy Fawkes Night here in the UK. And I let myself sleep in, so I didn't get up until midday, and I had to do a load of washing up, in bits, while resting my foot. Because of course, our dishwasher broke down after I did roast bloody turkey.

So it's currently, as of typing this, 6pm and I've written nothing. It's a lazy day though, so mum and I are ordering takeaway for dinner, and hopefully that'll give me the rest of the evening to get some words in...

It did not. Because after dinner, the cat was ill twice. *facepalm* Furballs, so nothing serious but still, mum can't sort it, she's fine with dogs but not cats, so that's my job and...

Yeah. I FINALLY started writing at 10pm

On one hand, starting at 10pm does mean I had enough time left to get my four sprints in...

On the other hand, my speed stalled just a bit. IF you can call 3.2k stalling. It's still substantially more than the 2.5k I've set as my daily target, but it's also the lowest wordcount I've had all month so... mixed feels, comforted with my earned garlic bread.

Interestingly, as I was rewriting draft 2 into draft 3 I hit a point where I was about 2/3rds of the way through an Andric POV chapter, and suddenly thought, "Actually, this is a good stopping point..."

I had another 800-850 words of the chapter left to rewrite, but when I looked at it, putting that in the next chapter, which is Lizzy's POV, gave me a chance to show a bit more of Olwen's character, and to foreshadow Booker's mild precognitive ability, and to show some more relationship development with Andric and her.

Also, it brings up the next chapter's word count, which doesn't hurt. It was a little on the lower end of my bracket.

So all in all I'm not mad about the shift, it was just a surprising one, and not one I'd planned for.

Excerpt;

"You okay?" he whispered against her hair, and she shrugged. "I hate that you're hurt," she confessed, and felt his breathing stutter. "I know." She didn't know what to say to that. She knew Andric had accepted, and she wasn't going to ask him not to. It left them right where they were standing, and then Booker's voice broke through their bubble. "Everything okay now?" he asked, voice falsely bright, and Lizz lifted her face from Andric's chest. "Yes… I think so?" Lizzy said, voice questioning the anxious look on her best friend's face as he stood with his hands shoved into his pockets, Olwen just behind him with a scowl on her usually friendly features. "Oh good," Booker chirped, "because I'm getting a fairly strong precognitive sensation that Olwen's going to make me pay for that trick once she gets us in a ring of our own. I just wanted to make sure my intervention was worthwhile." Lizzy looked at Olwen again, only to realise the scowl she'd thought the woman was sending Booker, was in fact the pain-filled remnants of whatever telepathic static he'd shoved into her head.

As for November 6th, I've just hit a patch that I wrote more recently. It's a scene between Booker and Lizzy that will reveal to anyone who doesn't get their hands on the preorder bonus, just exactly what's going through his head in this book.

But since it was written more recently, I already knew there would be less editing/rephrasing required.

What I didn't anticipate was that my first two sprints for November 6th have been over 1k each again...

Sprint 1; 1,137

Sprint 2; 1,151

Since I seem to be doing REALLY well today, and I've probably got one more sprint to complete this scene, I've taken a bit of a pause for dinner.

But after this scene, the next chapter is, in contrast, going to slow me down substantially.

It's a chapter that I haven't actually written yet.

During one of my "How do I get over this writing block?" sessions, I realised I needed a specific scene to highlight Olwen Pryce's character, and to foreshadow some things for the end of the book. So I have some "bits" written, I have some outline, I have some notes about what needs to be shown, and what needs to be foreshadowed, but the chapter itself still needs to get an initial draft down.

I'm hoping to just keep rolling with the sprints this evening, and get as much as I can done before midnight... which will hopefully mean my inevitably smaller word count tomorrow won't set me too far back on my total monthly goal.

So, I finished Nov 6th with 4 sprints, the last two were in the mid-900's words, so I did well, but I ran out of time before midnight to make much more progress 'today'.

Still, I'm not mad at a 4k day, and almost 25k total word count on day six ^_^

I'm hoping I have enough words in the bank, so to speak, to make up for this slow patch I'm about to go through with the first-drafting of the next chapter...

[author-a-holmes]

Work In Progress Wednesday!

Thank you for the tag @inks-books <3

Tagging forward with no pressure; @dyrewrites, @oh-no-another-idea, @bookishdiplodocus, @ashen-crest, and anyone else who wants to play, consider this an open tag ^_^

It feels like forever since I've had something to share, but I've been working on the 3rd draft of Darkling this last week so I have a Darkling Snippet to share!

Booker is being, hmmm, a bit of an arse during the first 3rd of Darkling, and unfortunately for everyone, Lizzy's never had an abundance of patience!

It makes for some explosive arguements...

Darkling Excerpt/Spoilers beneath the cut!

One last slow exhale, and Lizzy forced herself to turn away from the room, just in case Booker was feeling brave enough to try coming after her, but she only managed one step down the hall before she stumbled to a stop. Andric was leaning against the wall by his room, head turned to face her, and his storm-grey eyes scanning, watching, observing. The rest of his features were free of emotion; A carefully constructed mask. Lizzy knew it was, because she could see his hands clenched into fists, trapped between the wall and the small of his back. For just a moment, with her mind a mess of emotions from her argument, Lizzy didn't know why Andric was standing there. Didn't know why he was holding himself so tightly in check, and watching her so carefully… and then she remembered how sensitive his hearing was and winched. She sighed, eyes slipping closed as her anger was slowly overridden by hurt and her shoulders slumped beneath that weight. She heard Andric shift, but when he didn't appear at her side she forced herself to look at him again, only to see he'd turned just enough to prop the door to his room open with one foot. It was a tiny tilt of his head, and an open door. A silent offer to take shelter somewhere Booker wouldn't dare look for her, once his guilt overtook him. The offer was tempting, but she hesitated.

[author-a-holmes]

Heads Up, Seven Up Tag Game

Thank you for the tag @coarsely <3

Rules: Share seven recent lines you've written. Tag up to seven people (Or more, or less, Whatever you're comfortable with ^_^)

Gonna share some from Darkling today, so I'll pop it under a cut so that people can avoid spoilers.

And if this doesn't FEEL that close to the end of the story, that's because it's not. I've been working on adding an extra chapter between the current chapters 12 and 13 ;-)

Tagging forward to; @authoralexharvey @sleepyowlwrites @amewinterswriting @talesofsorrowandofruin @isabellebissonrouthier @cwritesfiction @theunboundwriter

And anyone else who wants to play, consider this an open tag ^_^ <3

“Then you must learn to fight as a vampire would.” “I’m about as good at that as [Redacted] is!” Booker snapped, and Lizzy flinched, surprised at the bitterness to his voice and although Olwen didn’t recoil the way Lizzy had, she went very still. One eyebrow arched slowly, and Booker backed down almost immediately, running both hands through his messy hair. “You want to place a blade in my hand and teach me to kill,” Booker muttered, and Lizzy’s breath caught as the pieces began falling into place. “And I… I can’t even lie and say I want you to. I don’t.” “Booker?” Lizzy asked softly, waiting until he looked at her, before reaching out unsteadily to touch his mind.

[author-a-holmes]

Proud Of Tag Game

Thank you @oh-no-another-idea for the tag! (Here)

Tagging forward, with no pressure to; @kittensartswriting, @vesper-roux, @shellyscribbles, @charlesjosephwrites

@moonscribbler, @dyrewrites, @winglesswriter, and anyone else that wants to play, consider this an open tag <3

How to Play: Post a snippet you’ve written that you’re pleased by/proud of and tag some friends

Darkling Spoilers Beneath the Cut, proceed at your own risk <3

One eyebrow arched slowly, and Booker backed down almost immediately, running both hands through his messy hair. “You want to place a blade in my hand and teach me to kill,” Booker muttered, and Lizzy’s breath caught as the pieces began falling into place. “And I… I can’t even lie and say I want you to. I don’t.” “Booker?” Lizzy asked softly, waiting until he looked at her, before reaching out unsteadily to touch his mind. He let her in, but his emotions were almost overwhelming. The pain, the regret, the self-disgust over the way he’d ravaged Olwen’s mind. But there was more buried there. More than Booker’s natural dislike of fighting, or the fears she’d managed to pull from him when he could hide parts of himself in the shadows of the night. But this tremulous fear; this was about his parents.

[author-a-holmes]

Friday Kiss Tag Game

Thank you for the tag @winglesswriter (Here)

Tagging forward, with no pressure, to; @cwritesfiction, @theunboundwriter, @foxys-fantasy-tales

@acertainmoshke, @avrablake, @lassiesandiego, and anyone else who wants to play, consider this an open tag ^_^

How To Play: From your Story/WIP, post a kiss. It can be any kiss, from familial pecks on the cheek, platonic smooches, forehead kisses, to full-blown makeouts.

Darkling Spoilers beneath the cut. But only Little Ones. I chose a scene that didn't give too much away :D

[...]he paused as he tried to think of something that would reassure her. It was difficult when he was fairly sure he was about to get a painful lesson in humility, but after a moment Andric tugged his leather jacked off and draped it around her shoulders, the leather half drowning her as he offered her a playful wink. "Look after that for me, alright?" he asked her, the ache in his chest easing as she slipped her arms into the sleeves and the hint of a smile tugged the frown off her face. Andric let one hand rest on her elbow before he dropped a gentle kiss to her temple. Turning, he stalked after the other vampire, refusing to let himself glance back at the fey woman and taking comfort in the fact that at least his beloved jacket would come out of this encounter unscathed.

[author-a-holmes]

Fantasy Indies April 6th

1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th | 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th | 26th | 27th | 28th | 29th | 30th

(Today's post includes a Darkling Snippet, so I'm tagging the taglist <3 If you want to be added or removed from the taglist, just let me know)

@faelanvance @noirepersonal @queen-kass-the-writer @athenswrites @thelaughingstag @minamoroz @bardic-tales @outpost51 @talesfromaurea @jezifster @ettawritesnstudies

Stumbled over a prompt list for Fantasy Indies on Instagram, so I thought it'd be fun to take part in the list of April's prompts and questions...

April 6th - Saturday Snippet! Word to Find is: "Demand"

This works pretty much like a "Find The Word" tag game, but with only one word to find. So without further ado, a Darkling Snippet...

When Lizzy felt the ground beneath her feet slow to a stop, it took a moment for the world to come back into focus and she stumbled. It was only Connor's grip still firm on her arm that kept her from falling over entirely and she had to bend double and gasp for breath to keep her lunch. "Breathe deeply, Lizzy. I'm sorry," Connor said softly. "It's always jarring for fey to blur, but I needed to accommodate your companions' demand." The reminder that she'd been forcefully removed from the hall, when [Redacted] had the answers she'd been seeking for months, had her struggling, wrenching her arm away from Moore's grasp with a snarl of her own. "She's my mum! I have a right to know what's—" "And if she has been tortured? Brutalised? If she was alive, but is now dead? Do you wish to hear these things directly? Or do you wish me to find the information and relay it to you after I am certain there is nothing further being concealed from you?"

(Promptlist for the rest of April can be found at the bottom of this post)

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[author-a-holmes]

Find The Vibe Tag Game

Thank you for the tag, Moshke @acertainmoshke <3

My vibe to find is; "I won't do it."

I've been trying to schedule tag games so they post in order, but this is... pefect. I know exactly the scene I'm gonna share, so I can resiist posting it immediatly :D

Tagging forward, with no pressure, to;

@ashen-crest, @isabellebissonrouthier, @storycraftcafe, @talesofsorrowandofruin

@duckingwriting, @afoolandathief, @elliottsbigstrongboyarms and @avrablake

And anyone else who wants to play, your Vibe to find is; "Because I care about you, god damn it!"

My snippet is from Darkling, so potential spoilers beneath the cut, although I'll try and redact anything that would be TOO spoilery <3

"Booker... I need you to do something for me. And you're not going to like it," she muttered, watching his expression turn wary, but he never stopped watching her. "I need you to sta—" "I'm not staying here, Lila," he interrupted voice firm, and Lizzy couldn't stop a tiny flinch at the anger there hovering just beneath the words. "Someone needs to contact Nameer and Cara, find out what's going on there," she tried, but the glare Booker was beginning to fix on her made her swallow hard. "You want me to stay here and make phone calls while you walk into a meeting with[Redacted]?" Booker asked, voice cold and hard, like brittle ice and Lizzy found herself licking her lips nervously, before sitting up and bracing her elbows on her knees.