Weekend Writing Warriors: 6/29/14 Where are you taking me??

I don’t know about you guys, but summer’s here with a vengeance for us. Officially we hit a high temperature of 89 Fahrenheit though with the humidity, it felt at least ten degrees hotter. Still, after a winter with two blizzards, I am not complaining ;-) All is well now, because it’s time for Weekend Writing Warriors!

Don’t know what that is? We invite writers—published or not—to sign our linky list and then post 8 sentences from something you’ve written. Then every Sunday we blog hop down the list and across the world. You may have had fun before but I guarantee you’ve never had this kind of  fun! Sci fi, historical murders, love gone wrong and sometimes gone right—it’s a grab bag and any reader’s dream.

So, picking up with my WIP tentatively titled Night Shift, directly from last week. Our heroine Devorah may have just lost her opportunity to find out what really happened when her dad was killed, then she notices the building they’re all in is about to come apart at the seams. Collected excerpts for this story are here. Kaz is still in demon form, wings included. It’s a chilly time of year for these folks, hence the reference to coldness.

Creative punctuation is happening here!

Kazimir slid both arms around me and hauled me off the floor. I kept moving upwards, fast enough to make me light-headed; I squeezed my eyes shut. 

An awful crashing went on below me, then to my left. My feet dangled into nothingness. The swaying was worse than the boat trip I’d taken when we got caught in a storm. Frosty wind raked across me, making it hard to get enough air into my lungs. Kazimir’s constricting grip on me didn’t help; gasping, I pummeled his arms. My whole head burned in the cold. 

We thumped onto the ground, throwing leaves into my face.

She’s out of the collapsing building, but now what? Where are they? As if I’m going to tell you right now, heehee!

Don’t forget to visit other 8sunday-ers. We thrive on hearing from our fellow writers and anybody who wants to leave a helpful comment. I can’t thank you guys enough for continuing to stop in to my blog. I’m overcommitted in Real Life right now and that means my online time has been spotty, but I get lovely comments every week. So thank you. I appreciate every visitor so much J

Weekend Writing Warriors 6/21/2014: Breaking your promise, now this!

Hello everybody J Happy summer, at last! Thanks for coming back, even when I don’t post consistently! I’m continuing with my Draft 1 work-in-progress, tentatively titled Night Shift although I’m skipping ahead just a bit. Kazimir has the demon Thaumiel trapped in the basement of a synagogue. Kaz has made it clear he wants to destroy the demon as payback not just for the death of Devorah’s dad, but the death of Kaz’s wife as well. Devorah has interrupted Kaz as he was about to stab the demon which would have broken Kaz’s promise to her to see justice done for her father’s death. Kaz agrees that Devorah is right when she says turning Thaumiel over to the angels would be a better punishment than simply destroying him.

Thaumiel’s on his back on the floor, with Kaz straddling his chest holding a dagger. Devorah is next to Kaz, having thrown herself against him to stop him from stabbing the demon. Collected excerpts for this story are here. Kaz speaks to his prisoner at the start of this excerpt.

“Know that you would be consigned to oblivion were it not for the truth. An eternity spent in the Light will be far more painful for you. My heart rests.” 

“Fool, you will be betrayed!” Thaumiel ranted. “Your suffering will surpass mine!” 

“It already has.” Kazimir drove the dagger into the demon’s chest.

An electric shock ran through me—he just said he wouldn’t do it! 

Thaumiel howled loud enough to echo, straining to move. Around me, a quiet rumble got louder; I looked up to see some sections of the walls were missing plaster, and cracks blossomed sideways deep into the walls.

Uh oh, somebody’s in trouble now J For excerpts from more stories than you can shake a stick at, visit Weekend Writing Warriors.  I guarantee you’ll find two or three or several stories you just have to follow! On an unrelated note, did you know that parakeets can get arthritis in their jaws? That’s what my veterinarian told me when I took Herschel in to have his beak trimmed. Sometimes they get arthritis and that’s why they stop chewing on things like cuttlebones that normally keep the beak in good shape. Huh! Learning all the time.

Weekend Writing Warriors: 6/8/14 Someday I'll make you pay

Hello again, peeps. Watching Stanley Cup Finals 2014 but taking time between periods to give you my current excerpt for Weekend Writing Warriors. Keep in mind, this is all Draft 1. I’m in the process of revamping the plot so some of these scenes will not stay, but I have a feeling some version of this scene will. Collected excerpts for this story are here.

Set-up for this scene: Kazimir has set up a trap for the demon Thaumiel. Devorah knows about it but didn’t expect to find Kaz in a frightening demon form she’s never seen before. Kaz enticed Devorah to join the group of demons called Crossers by promising to help her find out who is ultimately responsible for her father’s death; here, Kaz has Thaumiel caught in fire chains, and Thaumiel has just said something unexpected regarding Devorah’s dad. It’s clear to her that Thaumiel knows something. Kaz, however, was about to destroy Thaumiel so Devorah had to throw herself against him, knocking Kaz off balance. Some unhappy words are exchanged and Devorah realizes she cannot reason with Kaz while he’s in demon form. 

Somewhere under that horrid demon skin was a human soul, if only I could reach it.  “Kaz. You promised me I’d get answers. I’ll never trust you again if you break that promise.  I nearly got dragged into hell twice while helping you, and I don’t expect to be thanked by having a sacred promise broken.” My voice shook. If he brushed me aside, somehow, someday, I’d make him pay. 

I’m liking my girl Devorah. She does not take stuff laying down! Hope you guys are enjoying the WeWriWa blog hop. I can’t wait to get to it myself, to find out what everybody’s working on J  

Do you guys have any version of a local food fest? Here we have Taste of Buffalo, billed as the largest two-day food festival in the U.S. I’m planning to go to search for more Kahlua gelato—if you’ve never had it, you are seriously missing the best thing since people first discovered how to make ice by themselves!