WEEKEND WRITING WARRIORS - 8 SENTENCE SUNDAY

If you are interested in follow this link: WWW

It has been so long since I posted - after my rash of consistency - I'm right-embarrassed. ;) But, here we go -- back to the old routine:

I'm hardly back from my holiday and I'm already thinking about the end of summer and my new Y2 class: fourteen days and counting!

The highlight of my week - after getting home on Wednesday - was entering a story in the Undiscovered Voices Competition run by SCBWI BI. I have never entered before. *eep ;)

As I'm only a weekend writer of Romance, Darrah is still having trouble with Sark Hale Tarla; although, today, she is feeling a little lost.

In a time long past in our history, a Sarkisian ship is stranded on Earth. Assimilation is at an early stage but it has not proven to be an easy option for either people. Now, Hale has been assigned to Darrah and her arm of men. His role is to smooth over any diplomatic - or worse - problems that might arise in the Outlands, where the Sarkisians were allowed to settle, when they are sent to find the missing human heir to the Thorn Throne, Erishdren. Rogue Sarkisians are thought to have been behind the abduction.

Darrah woke as a chill breeze lifted the fine hairs at her nape. She sat up and forced her senses to absorb the scene around her as she confirmed the stillness, and the scentless air.

It took moments to control her breathing. She had to calm her racing heart, and build composure at the core, to ready herself to deal with the dizzying rush of information.

Not one who expected to see the same four walls around her when she woke, Darrah took time, as she checked close, near, and more distant, that there were no apparent dangers, to recall her whereabouts and her current assignment. The foliage on the trees moved only with the wind, and the shadows conformed to the expected shapes and sizes. The high-pitched calls and other sounds were exactly as she would expect in The Forest of Drer, all species of the Outlands: peckers, blackbirds, nutscurries, and fleetdeer. Only her glance had confirmed that the other tents were empty – hide walls raised – and her bow rested on a rock a long-arm’s reach away.

DONALD MAASS Write Tip #72

Is your setting historical, exotic or invented?  Add immediately one common thing we’ll recognize from our own reality.

DID YOU FIND SOMETHING EXCITING TO DO DURING JULY AND AUGUST? HAVE YOU POSTED THIS WEEKEND? 

WWW 8 SENTENCES The nasty truth that nobody wants to hear.

If you are interested in follow this link: WWW

As I'm only a weekend writer of Romance, Darrah is still having trouble with Sark Hale Tarla. In a time long past in our history, a Sarkisian ship is stranded on Earth. Assimilation is at an early stage but it has not proven to be an easy option for either people. Now, Hale has been assigned to Darrah and her arm of men. His role is to smooth over any diplomatic - or worse - problems that might arise in the Outlands, where the Sarkisians were allowed to settle, when they are sent to find the missing human heir to the Thorn Throne, Erishdren. Rogue Sarkisians are thought to have been behind the abduction.

When everything except his desire to dele squirmed inside him, Hale raised her hand and pressed his lips to the leather guard that covered her scarred wrist. Her scent. Colours. The vibrant warmth of her radiated across the space between them. He shifted, agitated. Her shimmering life force could not be contained by the thin barrier of her skin. And all that delicious power hummed to him. His to take if he chose.

DONALD MAASS WRITE TIP #66

What’s a nasty truth about people that nobody wants to hear?  Dramatise that strongly once in your manuscript.

Everyone struggles to put their needs aside (and consider the needs of others) it is not the easy choice.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE NASTY TRUTH THAT NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR?

What is your WWW Sunday 8 about?

WARRIORS, ROMANCE, AND JEALOUSY PERFECT FOR 8 SENTENCE SUNDAY

If you are interested in follow this link: WWW

As I'm only a weekend writer of Romance, Darrah is still having trouble with Sark Hale Tarla. In a time long past in our history, a Sarkisian ship is stranded on Earth. Assimilation is at an early stage but it has not proven to be an easy option for either people. Now, Hale has been assigned to Darrah and her arm of men. His role is to smooth over any diplomatic - or worse - problems that might arise in the Outlands, where the Sarkisians were allowed to settle, when they are sent to find the missing human heir to the Thorn Throne, Erishdren. Rogue Sarkisians are thought to have been behind the abduction.

“Why didn’t you tell Rylo what happened between us?” Hale asked from his position on boulder at the edge of the camp.

“You have no right to use his proper name,” Darrah snapped.

“He is your lover?”

He observed how Darrah’s back became stiff, registered the increase in her heart rate, and how her pupils dilated.

“He is Second of this arm – anything beyond that designation is none of your business.”

Hale calculated the possibility that Darrah might have had a deeper relationship with Rylo before he shook his head and relaxed his shoulders. “All truths that could be related to the disappearance of your future king are my business.”

DONALD MAASS WRITE TIP #99

Blah scene? What changes here? Exactly when? How would an outside observer know? Add that. 

WHAT CHANGE TAKES PLACE IN YOUR WWW 8?

WARRIORS AND ROMANCE, PERFECT FOR 8 SENTENCE SUNDAY

If you are interested in follow this link: WWW

I didn’t sign up for this week because I felt so bad about not getting around to read everyone else’s 8 last week. Sorry. Watford FC won an important game and so celebrating seemed like a good idea. Alcohol bad.

As I'm only a weekend writer of Romance, Darrah is still having trouble with Sark Hale Tarla. In a time long past in our history, a Sarkisian ship is stranded on Earth. Assimilation is at an early stage but it has not proven to be an easy option for either people. Now, Hale has been assigned to Darrah and her arm of men. His role is to smooth over any diplomatic - or worse - problems that might arise in the Outlands, where the Sarkisians were allowed to settle, when they are sent to find the missing human heir to the Thorn Throne, Erishdren. Rogue Sarkisians are thought to have been behind the abduction.

In this piece I have returned to Darrah. She has been facing her friend, Rylo, the Factor -   second-in-command in her Arm of men – since he touched her shoulder to attract her attention. Rylo is worried. Darrah is still frayed and on edge after Hale goaded her into attacking him so he could prove a point: that in single combat, between a Sarkisian and one of her men, it would not be the human who came out the victor. They were both burned by the encounter.

I missed out a small gap where Hale explains his past, and my plot.

“Rylo?”

“With you, Koman.”

Darrah stared beyond her Factor towards the mountains, around the clearing, then down at the ground near her feet.

Rylo brought his bow up and tapped it against the one Darrah held, armed and ready. “Without enemies, you hone your skills on rodents? I feel sorry for the scurries, already.”

“Never could abide creatures that get the first gnaw on my food. I don’t mind the sharing, but tiny tooth marks push me over the edge.”

DONALD MAASS WRITE TIP #92

What’s your antagonist missing?  What hasn’t he yet seen, figured out or found?  Plant that discovery.

Hale has been working out what he was missing. 

WEEKEND WRITING WARRIOR - 8 SENTENCES DRAWN and GENRE

If you are interested in follow this link: WWR

 As I'm only a weekend writer of Romance, Darrah is still having trouble with Sark Hale Tarla. In a time long past in our history, a Sarkisian ship is stranded on Earth. Assimilation is at an early stage but it has not proven to be an easy option for either people. Now, Hale has been assigned to Darrah and her arm of men. His role is to smooth over any diplomatic - or worse - problems that might arise in the Outlands, where the Sarkisians were allowed to settle, when they are sent to find the missing human heir to the Thorn Throne, Erishdren. Rogue Sarkisians are thought to have been behind the abduction.

He needed no breeze to carry the warm scent of her to him. After all the time restraining his nature, allowing the chemicals that created her aura to flood through his open pores was intoxicating. Fine hairs feathered out from her tightly woven plait and the scent of her chestnut soap flew from them. But, the oiled leather of her armour, particularly the guards that protected her wrist, added musk and shame into the already heady combination. The layers of hide also hid the circular indentations she called pock marks.

Closing his eyes didn’t help Hale forget the vibrancy that coursed through her it enhanced his other senses. He tried to forget the glide of her leg between his but the best he could manage was to focus on her weight as she pinned him to the ground. He groaned.

DONALD MAASS WRITE TIP 81

What does your genre get wrong? Fix it. What do fans of your genre expect? Sell them something else, or add something extra.

WEEKEND WRITING WARRIORS - 8 SENTENCES ON SUNDAY

If you are interested in follow this link: WWR

As I am a weekend-only writer of romance, Hale is still having trouble with Darrah. 
This section continues on from last week. Hale has been observing Darrah since she pinned him to the ground to teach him a lesson - to prove she could fight him without causing herself harm. But once she had him pinned she kissed him. Darrah initiated skin contact? The experience has left Hale intoxicated and raw.

Her relief was obvious as she relaxed when she identified the man who stood behind her. Observing this, he experienced what felt like a skewer snake burrowing into his flesh, but was probably something more barbed instead. Envy? Need? Hunger?

Hale needed no breeze to carry the warm scent of her to him. After all this time, stranded on this world, allowing the chemicals that created the aroma of her aura to flood his open pores was intoxicating. She was woodland and ripe fruit and sweet, sweet sugar.

WEEKEND WRITING WARRIORS - 8 SENTENCES ON SUNDAY

If you are interested in follow this link: WWR

As I am a weekend-only writer of romance, Darrah is still having trouble ignoring Hale.

Balanced on an outcrop on the ridge, some distance away, the overlapping tiles on the soles of his shoes curving to provide effective grip, Hale watched Darrah track through the trees.

Like a natural predator, she moved swiftly, stealthily, without disturbing the habitat. Had she always been this skilled in the forest? Was this the area of her training she had excelled at?  Is this why they had selected her to find heir apparent, Erishden?

He wondered at the easy finger that stroked the bark of the tree, and he smiled at the dexterity of her friend who jumped away when she spun to face him raising her short bow and deadly arrow in one deliciously smooth action. He heard her Factor whispered, “Koman, Darrah? Is something wrong?”

WEEKEND WRITING WARRIORS - 8 SENTENCES ON SUNDAY

If you are interested in follow this link: WWR

As I am a weekend-only writer of romance, Darrah is still having trouble ignoring Hale.

She leaned against a tree, halfway back to the camp. Before she faced her men, she needed to give herself a few well-worded orders. The man’s ability to reflect and intensify emotions was a biological low-blow. But, the Sarkisian’s range of subtle, hormone-enhanced scents were no more than perfume on a courtesan. The healthy glow of his skin was the bait. The shifting silk of his hair begging to be stroked was the distraction. And the warmth that surrounded him in his aura? That was the trap.