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SFFSat, April 7th 2012: Mt. Impri and ancient mageks
For a bit of change of pace this week I’m giving y’all a small snippet from Bellica, my first novel. This is from later on in the novel, when Yarrow (my protagonist) and one of her closest and oldest friends, Jules, are investigating the insides of Mt. Impri — the capricious guardian of Atton, Athering’s…
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SFFSat: oh the times, they are a-changing…
Here is the continuation to the last three weeks’ snippets (1, 2, 3) and the end of this chapter! They didn’t, this time. He merely nodded and put his arm around her shoulders, and they walked in silence. Normally she wouldn’t allow such a display of affection in front of her women, but since leaving…
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SFFSat March 24th: a conversation between Agate and her major
Continuing on in the same scene as the last two weeks’ snippets (1, 2), here we see a small conversation between Bellica Agate and her major, Damien. This is from The Jade Star of Athering, the sequel to Bellica. “You didn’t mention why you were chosen for the mission,” he said gently when they were…
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SFFSat, March 17th 2012: continuing on from where we left off last week….
We have the rest of the conversation first shown in snippet form here, for last week’s SFFSat. Agate had already turned away to deal with the “I told you so” look on Damien’s face, but now she turned back. “Think hard about what you’re saying, soldier. I never make uninformed decisions.” Bethany stood her ground,…
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SFFSat, March 10th, 2012: a snippet from The Jade Star of Athering
During a break on the march to Southland, Agate takes an opportunity to tell her women about their mission — and encounters some resistance. While her women sat, scattered across the road in a rough semi-circle, chewing on their rations, she spoke clearly and quietly. No one said anything, for her women were loyal, and…
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Meanwhile in Nanaimo (where it’s still not snowing; I don’t care what everyone else says)
A while ago I lost the notebook that held several handwritten chapters of The Jade Star of Athering, sequel to Bellica. (Yes, I’ve finally given in — it’s a sequel. I’m sure those of you who have read Bellica are happy to hear that. Though, strictly speaking, it could potentially be a stand-alone. I try…
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SFFSat: Drunken confessions continued
This week’s snippet is a continuation of last week’s, posted here. It caught her completely off guard. She swallowed convulsively in the raw emotion crackling the air. She grasped at her old, Umbra-may-care mood, but her jesting tone fell flat. “What, you’d sacrifice your life for me?” His look didn’t waver, but a small smile,…
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SFFSat: Drunken confessions from Bellica
Today’s entry is a conversation snippet between Bellica Yarrow and Major Caelum from Bellica. Yarrow is the Empress’s best bellica, and yet she feels herself descending into madness: she committed a crime she has no memory of committing. After a night of drinking, she confesses her actions to her second, Caelum, and his reaction surprises…
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Hot fresh novel, available on Kindle now!
As I mentioned briefly on Saturday, Bellica is now available for the Kindle. I ended up pricing it at $7.99, which is a bit lower than the $9.99 I had originally planned on, but still an accurate representation of the novel’s length and, frankly, what I feel I deserve for it. Also, this price was…
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Rape Culture in Fantasy Settings
[TRIGGER WARNING: discussion of rape and sexual assault] It’s a Thing. It really is. We’d like to think that the worlds we think up are oh-so-evolved, but the truth is that many of the worlds we think up have a rape culture in some shape or form. Possibly because it’s nearly impossible for us to…