#RainbowSnippets: Necromancers
HAPPY SATURDAY!
Update on Smith and Skarry ebook… I’ve made a few format changes and fixed some typos as well and KDP have said they will offer an optional update to everyone’s copy within 72 hours 🙂 I know it was only the cloud version affected but hopefully this will make it look nice across all devices 🙂 x
Here’s my #RainbowSnippets post for this week – if you’re new to this, Rainbow Snippets is a chance to read and share 6 sentences of LGBTQIA+ fiction every Saturday. There’s a huge variety from Steampunk, like mine, to Romance, Fantasy, Paranormal, Comedy and everything in between. You can join the fun and read all the other fabulous snippets at the wonderfully friendly and supportive official facebook group here.
As it’s still the spooky season I thought I’d do a few snips from a WIP which is the very last book (probably) in my Steampunk series Ashton’s Kingdom.
About 500 plus years after the events in the first book (The Curious Adventures Of Smith And Skarry) a forgotten cult are still obliviously serving their long-dead leader, Wiz, and trying to find the secret of immortality. Sort of. Actually daily temple life revolves more around knitting circles, bridge nights and summer fetes… until two novices stumble upon the secret of undeath themselves and unleash a couple of very unlikely ‘gods’ (and one disgruntled octopus) upon the unprepared and erstwhile peaceful community.
If you missed the last part you can catch up here: #RainbowSnippets: Necromancers
This snippet is from much later on in the story and the context includes some dark humour which might not be everyone’s cup of tea…
Vivienne (right hand man / political whip to the Papess) has just discovered that his husband Reynard (head of the red robe order) has probably been turning a blind eye to the fact that his younger initiates have been trading the menstrual blood of the temple virgins for liquorice all-sorts and, possibly, even eating the first born children dedicated to the temple. He has called Reynard into his office in a professional capacity to see how much he knows… Reynard speaks first…
“You wanted to see me.”
Vivienne continued to write furiously on the parchment at his desk.
Reynard let the door slam shut behind him and moved idly towards the many alchemical bottles, dangling from the ceiling in the centre of the room; he prodded one and it began swinging backwards and forwards, an angry red liquid swirling and bubbling inside. “Dare I hope it’s to apologise for letting the beef bourguignon go to waste, again…”
The quill came to a sudden stop and Vivienne raised his eyes to glare across the room at his husband. Ink began to pool.
Have a fabulous weekend folks 😀 (at least a better one than these two are having! XD And don’t forget to check in at the #rainbowsnippets facebook group for more fabulous snippets of LGBTQIA+ fiction
I’m so glad you were able to fix the cloud version of Smith & Skarry and Amazon have agreed to offer the update, so that you may rest assured that everyone has the version you’d worked so hard on and were as sure as dammit they’d been sent in the first place.🥰
Thank you for the snippet, I love it – and the context😂 – they’re fabulous.❤️
You’ve built such a delicious tension with so few words and scarcely any dialogue, nor even so much as a stomp or strop. It’s masterful. Apart from Vivienne’s glare all the suspense is built by the objects; the door slams shut, the quill does the furious writing then comes to a sudden, ominous stop. It is the liquid that bubbles & swirls angrily as Reynard, in contrast, saunters idly towards the bottles…they do the sinister swinging. To top off the chilling sense of foreboding with a flourish; four words, as succinct as they are superb.
Ink began to pool. No ‘the’ to dilute its impact. I gulped. 😨 Brilliant.😁
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November 23, 2019 at 6:43 am
Oh, phew, I’m glad you loved the context! After I shared I was like… oh dear, maybe I’m the only person who is going to find something humorous about teenage Necromancers eating babies and drinking blood when they should be knitting jumpers for the summer fete… BIG sigh of relief! 😅 And THANKYOU so so much for all your kind words! Again you’ve picked out everything I was trying to do which just makes all the time I spent playing through the scene in my mind before I wrote it totally worth while. Thankyou! 🥰
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November 23, 2019 at 10:21 am
Aww..bless you. I did! 😂Aw…you need never worry that I won’t take it in the tone you intended😁 ‘I suspect you’d have to be looking to be offended to find offence in such tongue-in-cheek mischief 🥰
maybe I’m the only person who is going to find something humorous about teenage Necromancers eating babies and drinking blood when they should be knitting jumpers for the summer fete…
😹😸😹 That has to be sentence of the month methinks 😸
Aww…you’re very welcome🌹
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November 23, 2019 at 4:46 pm
🤣🤣🤣
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November 25, 2019 at 1:34 pm
And here lies Reynard who died of totally natural causes and most definitely not from his husband’s death glare. RIP
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November 24, 2019 at 9:21 am
🤣🤣🤣 So true!
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November 25, 2019 at 1:32 pm
Reynard seems a bit slow to pick up on cues. Vivienne doesn’t look to be in an apologetic mood.
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November 24, 2019 at 2:14 pm
lol, yes he’s not the sort of chap who takes much interest in what others might be feeling or thinking… he’s going to have to in a moment though! XD
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November 25, 2019 at 1:32 pm
Uh oh, looks like someone is in trouble! I adore the mood and language of this story! (heart)
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November 25, 2019 at 6:26 am
lol, yes he’s a little too self absorbed to notice the fact right now but the penny will drop eventually! – aw I’m glad you’re enjoying it, thankyou! 🙂
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November 25, 2019 at 1:30 pm
There’s a lot of emotion in this room!
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November 27, 2019 at 6:21 am
There certainly is! XD
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November 27, 2019 at 7:35 am
So intriguing. Reading the lead in I figured Reynard had some explaining to do, but apparently he figures a good offense in the best defense? 😁❤️ I look forward to Vivienne’s response!
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November 28, 2019 at 3:34 am
lol, Reynard feels he is the long suffering one in this relationship, at this point he’s oblivious to anything else (for extra context, he has been moaning on about the beef all day via Viv’s holographic answer machine 🤣🤣)
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November 28, 2019 at 9:16 am
Pingback: #RainbowSnippets: Necromancers | Blake And Wight . com
Oh I really like these two
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November 30, 2019 at 4:56 am
Thankyou! They’re a lot of fun to write XD
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November 30, 2019 at 9:42 am
Love the tension in the snippet. Reynard seems to be completely oblivious to how much trouble he’s in.
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November 30, 2019 at 1:49 pm
lol, thankyou! And yes, Reynard is oblivious to everything that isn’t ‘his own great sufferings’ 😉
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November 30, 2019 at 6:25 pm