Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Obsession

July 13, 2019 by Alexis Duran

Hello and welcome to my Weekend Writing Warriors post. It’s good to be back after a two week break. I went on a writing retreat for part of that time, so pretty soon I’ll be sharing excerpts from the next Jacqui the Cat book. For now, though, I’m continuing with my re-imagined fairy tale, titled Snow. In this scene, Prince Gabriel is reluctantly taking part in the royal hunt. The head huntsman, Falkner, has discovered a mysterious nest in the woods, and Gabriel found something even more disturbing. You can read the last snippet here.

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Falkner sent his men off to look for tracks, then moved closer, arms crossed over his chest.

“What?”

Gabriel stepped back, and toed aside a clump of ivy. There, moss covered and gray, was a skull.

“Oh, holy hounds of Astrid. Don’t let the king see that.”

“Why ever not?” Gabriel asked, surprised by the huntsman’s reaction, “That’s a human skull, which means there’s been a death on the king’s land. It must be investigated.”

“We mustn’t feed his obsession,” Falkner said.

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Thunderstorms, mist and rain helped put me in the correct mood on my retreat.

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Blurb-in-progress for Snow, a reimagined fairy tale:

Following the death of his mother the Queen, Prince Gabriel is called home by his brother, now King. Gabriel hopes for a reconciliation with his estranged brother, but all is not well at Castle Rosenthal. King Tristan has fallen under the sway of a scheming alchemist, the magical denizens of the bordering Black Forest are on the move, and Gabriel begins to fear for his life. Is the handsome huntsman in on a plot to assassinate him, or is there an even darker, more evil force afoot? A forced flight into the Black Forest may expose ancient powers at work, if Gabriel can survive long enough to uncover them.

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Weekend Writing Warriors is a blog hop where writers from a wide variety of genres share from their work in excerpts of ten sentences or less. Click the link to check out the other writers participating today. It’s a great way to discover your next favorite book.

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ The Wrong Side

June 8, 2019 by Alexis Duran

Greetings and welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop where writers from a wide variety of genres share their work in excerpts of ten sentences or less. I’ve been sharing from my work-in-progress (one of them); a reimagined fairy tale based on the story of Snow White. And behold, I have finally reached the end of the second chapter! Or almost, couldn’t quite fit the last few lines into this snippet. So now I get to decide if I continue with this story, or switch to something new. We are getting close to the exciting hunt scene….Currently, Gabriel is facing the unpleasant realities of his homecoming. You can read last week’s snippet here.

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Tristan raised his voice to a shout, “Bring my brother a bow and quiver, and prepare the horses! The hunt is on!”

Servants materialized out of the mist like wraiths, and a few noble men stumbled out of the main tent, brushing cake crumbs from their beards and swilling the last dregs from their goblets.

Gabriel decided the stag had little to fear from this sodden band, but Falkner and his men hadn’t been drinking and would be there to bring down whatever animal a drunken lord or duke failed to shoot. The thought made him queasy, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Hunting was a way of life—the way of life for many in Rosenthal—and he’d just have to reconcile his aversion to the society he found himself in. His boyhood games of pretending to communicate with woodland creatures were just that, games and make believe; not something for a grown man to carry with him into adulthood.

Still, he’d always preferred the company of animals to men, and that hadn’t changed. The hunt felt like fighting on the wrong side of a war.

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Okay, I know these are knights preparing for battle, not aristocrats preparing for a hunt, but isn’t it nicely moody?

Blurb-in-progress for Snow, a reimagined fairy tale:

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Weekend Writing Warriors~ You Must Obey

May 25, 2019 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop where writers from a wide variety of genres share their work in excerpts of ten sentences or less. I’m continuing to share from my current work-in-progress, a reimagined fairy tale based on the story of Snow White. In my version, Snow White is male, a young prince named Gabriel who’s just returned home after a long absence. With their mother the queen now dead, Gabriel’s brother Tristan has been made king. Unfortunately Tristan seems obsessed with the Black Forest which borders his kingdom, and also with forcing Gabriel to join the hunt, which he is loathe to do, being an early pioneer of the animal rights movement. You can read last week’s snippet here.

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Tristan took a few steps toward the river, hands on his hips and declared, “There’s black magic afoot in the world, and it is coming from in there.”

Gabriel took the opportunity to shoot Falkner a questioning look. Again, Falkner shrugged and looked as if he’d rather be anywhere than in Greenswale meadow humoring his drunken king.

But Tristan and Falkner were old friends, comrades-in-arms, and if anyone knew the king’s true mind, it would be the huntsman. Gabriel decided to corner Falkner later and question him regarding his brother’s health.

“We did flush out a stag near the old Brandenburg forest road, just before we crossed paths with Prince Gabriel,” Falkner said in an obvious attempt to distract Tristan. “It won’t cross the river, I’m guessing, and the dogs might be able to pick up its scent.”

“Well, then, no more idling about stuffing our faces.” Tristan turned, eyes gleaming. “And before you whine to me about not wishing to hunt, Brother, let me remind you that I’m your king now and you must obey.”

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Another creepy forest image. Alas, this one I did not take.

Blurb-in-progress for Snow, a reimagined fairy tale:

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Weekend Writing Warriors ~ The Black Forest

May 11, 2019 by Alexis Duran

Hello and welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors. I’ve been missing in action for a few weeks; I was actually on vacation! In Hawaii! I even got a twee bit of editing done, but nothing like I’d imagined. Sun and sea are so distracting…

When last I posted, King Tristan had got it into his noggin that he wants to hunt with his brother Gabriel, knowing full well that Gabriel detests the idea of killing for sport. But now that Tristan is king, there’s not much his brother can do but obey. You can read the last excerpt here.

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Tristan didn’t wait for a response, but announced to the milling lords and knights, “The king and his brother shall ride into the Black Forest and bring back a trophy worthy to mount in the feast hall—a stag or perhaps a gryffon.”

Gabriel took a deep breath and released it slowly, aware of his brother and Falkner gauging his reaction while he did everything he could not to react at all. Part of him was glad that his brother wanted him along, but there was so much wrong with what Tristan had said, he hardly knew where to begin. He started with the safest objection.

“The Black Forest? It’s impossible for a hunting party to penetrate its brambles.”

“It’s true,” Falkner said quickly. “The chance of getting close enough to bring down anything in that mire is remote.”

“It mocks us,” Tristan said, glaring toward the river and beyond, where if one squinted and used their imagination, one could see the treetops of the Black Forest raking the belly of the clouds.

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Not exactly the germanic forest of my imagination, but suitably ominous and impenetrable. (This is the Ko’alau mountain range on Oahu, btw)

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Blurb-in-progress for Snow, a reimagined fairy tale:

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Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Under His Wing

March 23, 2019 by Alexis Duran

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop where writers from a wide variety of genres share excerpts from their work in ten sentences or less. It’s good to be back after missing last week. I’d like to say my absence was due to being on a fabulous vacation, but no, I had to work two 12 hour days last weekend at my day job. I don’t know about you, but I get very antsy when all of my writing time is consumed by the mundane requirements of reality.>>insert heavy sigh<<

I’ve been sharing from my work-in-progress, a reimagined fairy tale based on Snow White. We’re into the second chapter now, where Prince Gabriel is reunited with his brother for the first time in three years. Their relationship was never exactly loving, and Gabriel doesn’t know what to expect. You can read last week’s snippet here.

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The flap of the largest tent flew aside and a servant scurried out to tie back the heavy fabric.

Although seized by an irrational desire to turn Tempest around and flee, Gabriel slid from the back of his horse and tossed the reins to a nearby groom. He waded through tall, wet grass, his heart beating hard against his ribs.

Tristan emerged, a golden goblet in one hand, the other on his hip. His long, tousled red hair gleamed in the dim light and when he spotted Gabriel, a grin broke across his handsome face.

Fear and tiresome worries fled as Gabriel recalled his brother of old, the brother who kept Gabriel under his wing and led him on many jolly adventures in the rolling woods surrounding Rosenthal Castle. That was before their father died, and all the unhappiness that followed.

As he drew closer, Gabriel’s brief impression of a young, robust, and friendly brother faded. Yes, Tristan was still handsome, but his fair skin was sallow, yellowed beneath his spattering of freckles and trim red beard. His green eyes, once bright as emeralds, were bleary and narrowed as if against some light source Gabriel couldn’t see.

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Being king can take it out of a guy.

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Blurb-in-progress for Snow, a reimagined fairy tale:

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Weekend Writing Warriors ~ The Fire of the Hunt

January 5, 2019 by Alexis Duran

Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed the changeover without too much damage to ye olde brain cells. We need all of those, you know, because we have a fresh year of story-crafting ahead of us. If you’re perusing the web in order to find your next favorite read, don’t forget to check out the rest of the blog hop at Weekend Writing Warriors, where you can sample from a wide-array of story snippets.

I’m sharing from my current work-in-progress, a reimagined fairy tale titled Snow. I’ll let you guess which fairy tale inspired it.

After an absence of three years, Prince Gabriel is returning home along a forest path when he’s startled by a large stag, and then by the hunting party pursuing it. Last week, Gabriel challenged the head huntsman, questioning his right to hunt on the king’s land. The huntsman speaks first.

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“This is the king’s hunting party! Where’s the stag gone to?”

A baying in the woods seemed to answer his question. Gabriel shrugged, and didn’t move out of the way.

“I saw no stag. There was a rabbit earlier, is that what you’re after?”

“Who the hell are you to get in our way?” The man finally settled his horse. He looked more irritated than angry, and upon reflection, Gabriel thought he knew him. Black hair, brown eyes that flashed with the fire of the hunt, sharply aristocratic features, with a matching aristocratic attitude—By Grindle’s Beard, it’s Gavin Falkner.

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Blurb-in-progress:

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