Stepping Stones To Publication Day…
On Thursday, I posted on The Sound Of Water, using examples from my books — including another sneak preview from Daughter Of Blood.
As alluded to then, I’ve decided to feature a number of snippets by way of a series of sneak previews (but strictly no spoilers) that I like to think of as “stepping stones” across the intervening months until publication at the end of January 2016. (Also to reassure you that there”really is” a book!)
Obviously I’ll keep you posted on other “stepping stones” as they arise, like the covers(!), but here’s what we’ve had to date:
February (when the publication date was finally set):
“…Malian gathered herself. Breathing in the resin of the pines, mingled with acrid earth, she brought the two places together in her mind, folding the distance between them. For a moment she stood poised between the quiet stable with its scents of horses and leather and hay, and the darkness beneath the pines with its thickly layered needles and scattered cones. She smelt sheep dung, too, scattered amongst the tree roots—and opened her portal, out of the stable and into the hollow in the foothills.
Peta, Raven’s mare, tossed up her head, but he spoke a quiet word and she steadied. Hani pricked her ears forward and then both horses followed Raven through the gate. Malian waited until the mares’ tails had swished clear before following, letting the opening close as soon as she stood on the foothill side. The imprint of the stable lingered briefly against the darkness and then there was just the pine grove, with the wind sighing down from the high peaks, bringing the chill of snow.”
March/April:
This quote appeared in an interview with Canadian author, Lorna Suzuki, in March and I posted it here on April 4:
“She [Malian] was full of cleverness and secrets…because she was in his mind, [redacted] could see that. Twisty, he thought. He felt rather than saw her smile, overhearing him, and caught the echo of a reply that was something about the moon showing a dark face to the world, as well as a bright one. I’m like that, too, he thought dreamily, dark and light…”
May:
While this crept into The Sound Of Water post:
“The fog began to blow apart, although there was no breath of wind, the [dream] dissipating into the gentle slap of water, a creak of rigging, and the smell of salt and tar. A shadow loomed through the whiteness as a gull mewed nearby, disturbed perhaps by the coming dawn.”
~ All quotes from © Daughter Of Blood, The Wall of Night Book Three