Weekend Writing Warriors

Welcome back for another snippet from War’s End. The big question for all of them (aside from how to stay alive and get home) has been how they got from the ship (which was getting decidedly unfriendly) to the surface of Rakal.  Now they may have that answer, though the problem of survival is still there.

“Lyra said if she were frightened enough she might teleport to me. But ….”

“Colo was still after her!” Audi exclaimed. “She went farther to get away from him, and since she wouldn’t leave you, and we were all in physical contact, she brought all of us along. No wonder she’s hungry!”

“Poor baby,” Ginger said as she rummaged in her kit. “Nothing wrong with you, Coralie—no Human mammary system could keep up with the energy demands of a R’il’noid baby who’s just teleported that much mass. No wonder she couldn’t quite manage the energy and momentum matching.”

For more snippets, click on the logo at the top of the page to get to the list for Weekend Writing Warriors, and that at the bottom of the page for the facebook page for Snip Sunday.

I’ll be slow getting around today (most will be next week, if at all) because I’m taking off in a plane about the time this goes live at midnight. (The only way to get connections out of Alaska is via the red-eye.) If I make my connections, I’ll get to upstate New York (Ithaca) well into the afternoon and I am not going to arrive in any condition to be surfing the internet and leaving coherent comments.

Weekend Writing Warriors, War’s End

Welcome to another snippet from War’s End. Coralie has just realized she has no more milk for Michelle, who’s been nursing almost continuously. Kelty and Ginger seem to have figured it out, and Ginger is speaking first.

“Coralie, it’s not you, and I have some milk substitute in my kit. Remember what happened the last thing on the ship? Just before we wound up here?”

“That man — he grabbed Michelle from me. She was afraid of him, and — but he was moving away from me! And Michelle was back in my arms! I thought — but he can’t have given her back to me.” Her eyes widened as she remembered the conversation with Elyra.

The conversation was before they were even on the ship, but you’ll have to wait until next week to find out what Elyra said.

For more snippets, click the logo at the top for Weekend Writing Warriors, or the one at the bottom for Snip Sunday.

Weekend Writing Warriors

It’s Sunday, and snippet time. Click on the logo above to find other participating authors, or on the logo below to get to the facebook page with similar information.

I’m still posting the same scene from War’s End, a WIP. The group has been stranded, how they do not know, on a very hot, wet, jungle planet. They have rigged a shelter and are waiting to see if the rain stops, though by now it is evening. Coralie has been suggesting that they will need a latrine trench, and trying to stop her daughter Michelle’s fussing. She has just asked if there is something wrong with Michelle or with her, and she continues to speak. If you want background, the index (above) has all of the Sunday snippets.

“She feels like she’s starving, and aside from a couple of naps she’s been nursing since we got here. And I thought she was getting plenty, until a few minutes ago. I’ve run dry!”

“That’s how we got here,” Kelty laughed abruptly. “She’s her father’s daughter, all right.”

The others looked bewildered for a moment, and then Ginger began to giggle.

Obviously Ginger and Kelty have suddenly figured something out, but what?

Weekend Writing Warriors

It’s Sunday again, and time for Weekend Writing Warriors, a blog hop where a number of authors post up to eight sentences from their writing, published or unpublished. Click on the logo above to get to the list of authors. The one at the bottom gives the facebook page for snippet Sunday, with more authors.

My snippet this week is again from War’s End, the story I’ve been giving excerpts from for some time. A group of five adult Humans, a month-old baby and an alien have suddenly found themselves on an alien, hot, unfamiliar jungle planet. Coralie has just asked Audi for clarification of why she referred to the Maung as “she” and “Red,” and Audi is answering.

“It’s a lot more than just ‘Red,’ of course, but we needed a short, easy-to-remember nickname. As for the ‘she,’ I didn’t ask specifically, but the first thing she asked was whether we knew anything about where her children were. If Michelle needs them, I did find the diapers.”

Coralie glanced down at her fussing daughter, and shifted her to the other breast. “Latrine trench,” she said firmly. “Somebody make a note of that. Ginger, is Michelle all right? Am I all right?”

And why is she asking that?

Weekend Writing Warriors

It’s Sunday again, and time for Weekend Writing Warriors, a blog hop where a number of authors post up to eight sentences from their writing, published or unpublished. Click on the logo above to get to the list of authors. The one at the bottom gives the facebook page for snippet Sunday, with more authors.

My snippet this week is again from War’s End, the story I’ve been giving excerpts from for some time. A group of five adult Humans, a baby and an alien have suddenly found themselves on an alien, hot, unfamiliar jungle planet. Coralie (the baby’s mother) has suddenly been told she is in charge.

They were looking to her for leadership? But her lessons in wilderness survival were deep-rooted, even if they applied to a different wilderness. “Inventory,” she replied after only a moment’s hesitation. “We need to know everything we have, no matter how useless it seems. Uh—‘Red?’ ‘She?’”

Audi grinned and tapped out something on the reader. The Maung responded by changing color to a tapestry of reds, threaded with gold and black. “That’s her name,” Audi said.

I’m on the A to Z Challenge this month, introducing some of the characters from my books. Drop in for an introduction. The baby’s father, Roi, was introduced yesterday, and her grandmother will be talking tomorrow.

Weekend Writing Warriors

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, a blog ring of authors posting snippets from their work. To get the list of participants with links to their blogs, click on the logo above. This post is also listed on the Snippet Sunday Facebook list, available via a click on the logo at the bottom of this post. I was going to put it on Skye Warren’s Write Club, heance only six sentences, but I can’t find the list for April 7.

 I’m still posting from War’s End, and Kelty has just remarked that Coralie obviously knows the most about wilderness survival, while Ginger is a doctor and Audi knows the most about Maungs. He continues:

“Neither astrogation nor piloting’s likely to help us here, so I’m grunt labor. Any specialist knowledge I’m missing?”

“Red’s a spice trader,” Audi said. “She says she might be of some use lifting things—this is low gravity for her—but she doesn’t know anything about surviving on the planet except how to recognize some of the botanicals, and she’s not feeling very well. She’s been a prisoner for some time. Madame Irela?”

At least they’re cooperating with each other! But what can a diplomat do?

Weekend Writing Warriors

I’m still posting from War’s End. The castaways have managed a shelter of sorts, but it is now pouring rain. Coralie is trying to figure out what they can expect in the way of weather, and Audi has just told her that they can probably expect a lot of rain.

“Time of day?” Coralie prompted, but Audi just looked at her. “Back home,” she clarified, “we’d have summer thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening, but they’d clear up by morning. Roi said that was because thunderstorms need the sun to heat the ground. Is it the same way here? If it stops raining by morning, I think we ought to try to construct a better shelter. Madame Irela, could you take care of Michelle for a bit so I can work?”

Kelty nodded. “You probably know more about wilderness living than the rest of us together, even though this isn’t quite the same wilderness you’re used to. Audi’s our Maung specialist, and Ginger’s a doctor.”

An inventory of knowledge is indeed as important as an inventory of supplies. What other knowledge do they have? And is it enough?

This post is part of the Weekend Writing Warriors blog circle, a group of authors who post no more than 8 sentences of their work each Sunday. To find other snippets, click on the logo above. There is also a facebook listing, and to get to the facebook page click on the logo below.

One bit of news: I’m participating for the first time in the A to Z Challenge. This will mean double posts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as I plan to keep up with local weather, quotation contexts and Jarn’s Journal, My regular posts go live at 8 am local time; the A to Z posts will be earlier, just after midnight, as is the Weekend Writing Warrior post. On double post days I’ll set up a small logo with a link to the A to Z post on the 8 am post. The theme? I’ll be introducing characters and world building from my published novels, many of whom will also appear in the trilogies I’ve been posting from. For the most part I plan to let my characters do the talking, and you’re all invited to droop by and meet them.

Weekend Writing Warriors

I’m still posting from War’s End. Coralie has just suggested that they delay conversing with the Maung until they rig a shelter – she is sure rain is coming.

A rumble of thunder punctuated [Coralie’s] words.

“Under the branches, but stay away from the biggest trunks,” Kelty agreed. “Audi, tell it we need shelter from the rain and possible lightning. Give me a hand with the medical kit—you can pile the other stuff on it.” He managed to lift Ginger’s levitation-equipped medical kit clear of the ground, and he and Audi began pushing it toward the edge of the clearing. The others gathered their own belongings and followed him, the Maung seeming as eager as the Humans to find shelter.

They had weather sheets, Coralie saw when Kelty turned out the contents of the emergency kit, but nothing to prop them up with. “String some of that light rope between two trees and drape the sheets over it,” she suggested, but Michelle was demanding to be fed again, so she could only watch as they fumbled the job.

Ah, the frustration of knowing how something should be done and being forced to stand by and watch others make a mess of it.

Next week will be a free day for Horse Power, a short story that bridges the gap between Homecoming and Tourist Trap and the trilogy that will finish with War’s End, so I’ll be posting a snippet from that. We’ll get back to War’s End, though. If you download Horse Power, I ‘d really appreciate a review.

This post is part of a blog ring, Weekend Writing Warriors, where authors can post up to 8 sentences from a work at any stage of completion. Do visit and comment on other authors; you can find the list and links by clicking on the logo at the top of the page. There is also a facebook list for excerpts, which can be found by clicking the logo below.

Weekend Writing Warriors

I’m posting more from War’s End today. The Maung has just confirmed that it knows trade talk, and Audi continues in her explanation to the Humans in the party.

“It’s a pretty primitive language, but there’s less chance of misunderstanding than with my trying to use their color language. Let’s see if I can get its name.”

Coralie moved a little nearer the center of the clearing and tipped her head back to look at the sky. Definitely threatening now, with low scud clouds moving fast against the higher overcast, and gusts of wind shaking the high branches. However welcome the movement of air was, she could not escape the feeling that it was about to start pouring. “Audi,” she interrupted, “couldn’t that wait until we rig some kind of shelter?”

This is the first Sunday of the month, so this post is signed up not only with Weekend Writing Warriors but also with Sky Warren’s Write Club. I’ll probably also get it listed on the facebook page.

By the way, I think I’ve just done something totally insane. I looked at my character list and glossary, and realized I had every letter of the alphabet except Q. (Query letter, anyone?) So I signed up for the A to Z blog challenge. If you’d like to find out more about my universe or meet my characters, drop by other days than Sunday in April. A to Z posts will go live at 6 pm Alaska time.

Weekend Writing Warriors

I’m still posting from War’s End, a work in progress. Last week Audi attempted to communicate with the Maung, using the reader to show an approximation of its color-pattern language. They’ve managed to exchange “friend,” and she’s asked it to stay with them. Its response is a surprise.

The creature flashed white and silver, and then waved a tentacle toward the keypad on the reader. Audi hesitated, but held the reader where the Maung could reach it. The tentacle reached out, touching the keypad purposefully, but slowly, and letters grew on the screen.

Trade talk.

Audi’s eyes widened as she took back the reader and hastily typed, Maung know trade talk? and then held the reader back toward the creature.

Little, grew on the screen, and Audi grinned.

“We lucked out,” she told the other Humans. “This one knows a little trade talk.”

Trade talk? What’s that?

This post is a part of Weekend Writing Warriors, similar to the old Six Sentnece Sunday (now sadly defunct) but with an 8-sentence limit. To find the contributions of other fine authors, click on the logo at the top of the page. Others who were on Six Sentence Sunday can be found on the facebook page.