Saturday, December 12, 2020

A furious witch? snippet from fantasy story for #WeWriWa

 


Welcome to another Sunday with Weekend Writing Warriors.

Enjoy a little distraction from pandemic worries. Meet writers in various genres and read 8-10 sentence snippets of their stories. Find a new author and sample their work.

I broke my arm two days before Thanksgiving, so I’m typing with one hand. Yet another disaster in a horrible year! Still, I’m making slow progress on the new fantasy romance about a witch and an elf. The main character, Bridget Bramble, lives in a small cottage on the outskirts of a village. Her plans to go on a foraging expedition in the woods were interrupted when a troop of armed men marched into the village and beat up the residents.

You can read my last snippet here: https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2020/11/a-harmless-old-man-snippet-for-wewriwa.html

Suddenly furious, Bridget resolved the horrid foreigners would not capture her or steal her best buttons. Shutting her eyes, she rubbed her fingers over the charm-inscribed buttons on her bracelet and considered what to do. Her cottage stood on the slope of a hill at the edge of the woods, well separated from the rest of the village. She would have a few minutes respite before the raiders came.

Randall and his pregnant wife lived in the village, but she had no way to defend them against the attackers. Few of the spells in her scant knowledge of magic were designed to harm people. She had only once used her best weapon, the repulsion spell, when the blacksmith’s son had tried to rape her. Later, he took revenge by spreading rumors that she was a witch who hated men. Repulsion made an effective defense against a man at close quarters, but at this distance, it would not work on the enemy. Her only option was to flee before the invaders captured her.

Extra paragraph: 

She was dressed for her expedition in a boy’s trousers, woolen shirt, jerkin and leather ankle boots. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and tucked under her cap. Randall had complained about her clothes. He scolded her about being unfeminine. It was useless to argue with him. He was only voicing his wife’s opinion, likely shared by the old biddies in the village. Bridget preferred the freedom of a man’s clothing for foraging in the woods. She had planned to spend the whole day gathering rare herbs, nuts and mushrooms. She had already packed a bag with barley cakes, a chunk of cheese, two apples and leather flask of ale for her midday meal. What else could she take for her flight?

 

Draft Blurb

In a land troubled by invaders from the east, Bridget Bramble lives in a small village where she barters herbs and carved buttons. When marauders target her village and murder her family, she flees into the woods. Armed with her Granny’s advice, and a bag of magic buttons, she sets out on the perilous journey to Oakenwald, the fabled land where elves and men live in harmony. As she travels farther from home, she encounters malicious creatures from the worst kind of folktales.

Lost in the foothills of the mountains, Bridget meets an elf, Windswift the Wanderer. He offers to guide her across the mountain range. But what is he doing in human territory? Can an ordinary, or almost ordinary, human girl trust a cold hearted elf? 

 

Any comments or suggestions are welcome.

I’ll be happy to reply to your comments. 

Please return to http://wewriwa.blogspot.com/ to sample the works of the other writers.

 

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24 comments:

  1. Well, it looks like her plans are ruined, but at least she's somewhat prepared to flee. Nice snippet!

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    1. She is well prepared, luckily. But she hasn't yet decided on a destination.

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  2. she's obviously well ahead of her times liking male clothes. good on her.

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    1. I think it was more common than we might guess. When Viking women went on raids, I imagine they wore men's clothes.

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  3. Since she thought about Randall and his wife, I wonder if she'll try to do anything to help them.

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    1. She'd like to help, but can't do much against fifty men at a distance.

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  4. We learn so much about this character in these few paragraphs. Nicely done! So sorry about your broken arm. I wish you a speedy recovery!

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    1. Thanks!
      I squeezed a lot of backstory into the first chapter.

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  5. It says a lot about her character that she's rationally planning her escape rather than panicking.

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  6. So sorry to hear about your arm and I'm glad it's healing okay! Enjoyed the snippet. I think it's great she can stay so calm but on the other hand, I want her to HURRY UP!Time's a-wasting here...

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    1. Thanks.
      She has a little time to prepare since the raiders are busy in the main village.

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  7. You get a really good sense of Bridget in this. I enjoyed the snippet. Hope the arm heals quickly. And we are all ready to ring in 2021

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  8. I'm sorry about your arm. Bridget is prepared for her trip so I get the impression of an organized, level headed girl.

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  9. I am SO looking forward to 2021! Having had wrist surgery while finishing up a book, I can feel your frustration. Rather like your heroine in this scene.

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    1. That's true. Actually, my hero is wounded in the same arm during the story. I added details from my own experience.

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  10. It's great she can remain calm.
    I'm glad you're arm is healing.

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  11. What a terrifying situation to be in. It sounds like she has a good head on her shoulders, though.

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  12. So sorry about your accident at such an inconvenient time! Hope you heal quickly! At least she seems very well prepared to flee the situation. Too bad she can't rescue others as well. Can't wait to see what she decides to do.

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  13. Praying for a speedy recovery. Great snippet. We can see she is somewhat thinking this through. It is great that we can take our own experiences and use them in our stories.

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    1. True, although most of my stories occur in places that don't exist outside of my imagination.
      Thanks for the sympathy.

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