SFFSat - July 28

Welcome to another SFFSat, where a bunch of us post snippets from our written works and shoot the breeze.  Thanks also to everyone who stops by and leaves awesome comment.  Much appreciated!

Today, I'm featuring a snippet from a WIP with the working title of Time Fracture. This is a short story (or not) spawned from an idea my brother had, and where I've embellished into a sort of creepy science fiction borderline paranormal.

The premise is that as we age, we lose time, a phenomena shared by every person. However, in this screwy world, the culprit of this lost time, is Time itself. Our hero must now seek a way to escape its clutches, resetting Time to what it once was.

This scene, continues directly on from where I left off last week (check it out here) where he realizes his watch is part of the cause. Here, our hero, after pinpointing the cause of lost Time, makes other startling discoveries.

But how could this innocuous device hold such dangerous powers? This marvel of science, of ingenuity, of craftsmanship—what could be so sinister about it?

I’ll tell you why, because I’ve learned the truth.

In the days of my youth, our house only held two Time Markers: an electronic wall clock in the kitchen, and my father’s wristwatch. Unless Time called you, the need to mark Time’s progress went unnoticed. You were safe; it hadn’t yet seen you completely.

I look around my house now, an old post-colonial, semi-brownstone townhouse that has stood for over a hundred years. It has seen many summers, withstood many bitter winters, rejoiced in the birth of spring and wept with the falling of autumn’s leaves. It has seen Time progress into the twenty-first century and has held Time Markers within its walls—it has held many secrets.

My house is filled with obscenities.

If you're interested in participating in next week's SFF Saturday, stop by their sign-up blog which is open every Wednesdays.  And don't forget to follow the rules and use the #SFFSat hashtag.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers!

Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge - Blood Divided by Kevin James Breaux

Continuing with my reading challenge for Speculative Fiction 2012, I chose Blood Divided...


Kevin James Breaux's sequel to Soul Born kicks off twenty years after the first story ends. There is enough back story to keep the 'uninitiated' in the loop, but it can also be read as a stand-alone, which is good since I really didn't want to be interrupted while reading by going back to the first one to refresh myself.

From the get-go, I was hooked (maybe because I'm already an 'initiated'), and had me up well past my bedtime to see 'what happens next' to the ensemble cast. It was good to see Tala (the Elf) again and the return of one of my favourites, Zian, the werewolf. Back too in one form or the other is Opal, the misguided mage. And then there is the new cast, primarily Opal and Tala's children by the same dude, Karn.  Each new character comes with unique personalities that jump out the page and drive the story forward.

I look forward to the next in the sequel, Dark Quest, which the author told me is due out 2013.

SFFSat - July 21

Welcome to another SFFSat, where a bunch of us post snippets from our written works and shoot the breeze.  Thanks also to everyone who stops by and leaves awesome comments.  Much appreciated!

Today, I'm featuring a snippet from a WIP with the working title of Time Fracture. This is a short story (or not) spawned from an idea my brother had, and where I've embellished into a sort of creepy science fiction borderline paranormal.

The premise is that as we age, we lose time, a phenomena shared by every person. However, in this screwy world, the culprit of this lost time, is Time itself. Our hero must now seek a way to escape its clutches, resetting Time to what it once was.

In this scene, our hero discovers when he lost Time...and when Time had marked him.

Until then, Time stood endless before me; each moment, enchantingly slow, profound, forever.

Memorable.

What happened when I turned eight? What Grim Reaper slashed their wicked sickle through my perpetual bliss? I have narrowed it down to only one thing.

I received my first watch.

A watch is such a remarkable device; crafted by artisans, to allow mortals to follow the progress of Time—to capture it, harness it.

This watch marked my Time.

It fascinated me; I was drawn in by its hypnotic charm, watching the seconds tick, the minutes, the hours—enthralling—and I had no idea that from that moment, Time would mark me, zero in on me, like a big bulls eye.

I was stolen without ever realizing it…

If you're interested in participating in next week's SFF Saturday, stop by their sign-up blog which is open every Wednesdays.  And don't forget to follow the rules and use the #SFFSat hashtag.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers!

I Have Not Been Woolgathering...

...Though, there were times when I thought I may have been.  It happens when you're a writer.

I've been relatively quiet on the social networking front (and the blogging) because (dang, it's just hard work keeping up) my head's been ambushed and held captive with writing projects.  So, again, I haven't been idle (even though I wanted to be).

To keep you in the loop, I've completed the 'first' draft of the full length TO CATCH A MARLIN (in the hands of betas) and setting it up for a second pass to tidy it and refine it some more. This is tentatively scheduled for an October 2012 release.  YAY!  Don't worry, I'll keep you posted.

While it's been 'out of my hands,' I've dragged out BENGARIA'S WAR (which had a glorious 3-month rest) and, right now, undergoing 3rd draft tweaks and squeaks and stuff.  Also in the works, another short story from the MARLIN series called THE NECROMANCER OF THE AVON.  This one, while complete, needs a little more polishing before it's done. (And guess what, I've another plot bubble pop up for our cheeky little Jax Marlin to star in...)  And finally, a short my brother and I are working on, with a working title called TIME FRACTURE, is also taking up my attention so the brain-webs don't fester.  You could say, my mind is full right now.

So, I'm still here, with Tweetdeck open in the background following the tweets, and the web browser at the ready, while I conjure up words and worlds and fixing things with some old fashioned elbow grease thrown in for good measure.

Cheers!

SFFSat - July 07

Welcome to another SFFSat, where a bunch of us post snippets from our written works and shoot the breeze.  Thanks also to everyone who stops by and leaves awesome comments.  Much appreciated!

Today, I'm featuring another short from To Catch A Marlin, this one titled, The Marlin Strikes Again. If you're interested in more from Jax Marlin, the recently released Ring of Fire Short Story Sampler Vol. 1, is available on Kindle.

For those out of the loop, To Catch A Marlin is a futuristic cat and mouse tale between Special Inspector Pedroni and the vigilante Jax Marlin, who just happens to be a super sexy woman with ninja skills.

In this scene, Jax is following a rather nasty target and has just stepped out of a coffee shop and made a distressing observation...

The street assaulted her with a sharp bite of cold.  Spring promised to be in the air, but it seemed winter hadn’t gotten the memo yet.  Either that, or Weather Control had fallen asleep on its own ass again.  She screwed up her rosebud mouth and pulled her long coat around her, deciding she didn’t like this city.  For a university town touted for its forward thinking 24^th century lifestyle, it struck her as backward as hell.  Crime, the disgusting kind, ran rampant within it and no one seemed to take notice.  Or if they did, they didn’t seem to care.  She might as well have been back home, in London.

If you're interested in participating in next week's SFF Saturday, stop by their sign-up blog which is open every Wednesdays.  And don't forget to follow the rules and use the #SFFSat hashtag.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers!