Saturday, January 2, 2021

Bridget loses her family - snippet from new #Fantasy for #WeWriWa

 

NASA's recolored Jovian Storms looks Decorative

Happy New Year and welcome to another Sunday with Weekend Writing Warriors and SnippetSunday.

Reading is a safe pastime during the pandemic. Sample the work of a new author. Read snippets of stories in different genres.

On a personal note, my broken arm is healing and I’m doing physical therapy exercises every day. At least I can now type with both hands, which makes punctuation much easier.

I’m posting snippets from my new fantasy about a witch and an elf. Thanks for your positive comments about the beginning of the story. The book has just gone up for preorder at Amazon. The main character, Bridget Bramble, lives in a small village. Her plans to go foraging in the woods go awry when a troop of armed men march into the village and beat up the residents.

Before Christmas, I gave you a snippet at the end of the first chapter. I wanted to leave you at a happier place for the holidays. Bridget has run into the woods. You can read the snippet here - https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2020/12/bridget-flees-into-woods-snippet-for.html

You can find the complete, and extended, first chapter at https://www.auroraspringer.org/2020/12/coming-soon-epic-fantasy-with-adventure.html

The final line is “She crouched below the tops of the bushes and scurried up the path into the shelter of the trees.

I’ve skipped a few lines. Bridget has stopped on the crest of a hill. She is peering from behind the rocks at the village. Note, Randall is her brother.

The kilted foreigners had set fire to the thatched roofs and separated the villagers into two groups. One group comprised a handful of the village men including her brother. Armed soldiers guarded the second group of cowed women and their frightened children. Other raiders were shunting plundered goods from the cottages onto their wagons.

A woman stumbled out of a doorway. The woman, heavily pregnant, cradled her bulging belly. She stared around, wide eyed in terror. Bridget recognized her sister-in-law. One of the raiders shoved her forward. Eveline fell.

A few extra lines.

Her head cracked on a stone and she lay still. The vile man kicked her, but she did not move.

Bridget froze in horror

Staring from the group of men, Randall yelled in outrage. He pushed the guards aside, rushed at the man standing over his wife, and pummeled him with his fists. The soldier thrust at him, withdrawing a red-stained blade. Randall slumped to the ground, lying face down. Blood pooled from under his body.

Bridget cupped a hand over her mouth to muffle a scream.

Two deaths.

She had lost the last members of her family.

 


Bridget Bramble and the Wandering Elf

In a land threatened by cruel 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 folktale.

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

An epic fantasy adventure and romance with darker overtones. This story weaves elements of folklore and a quest for a safe haven in a land where magic is real.  

Preorder at: AMAZON for release on February 3rd. 


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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33 comments:

  1. What a horrible thing to witness! I hope she doesn't meet the same fate.

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    1. Sorry for the horrific scene - I have to show readers what impels her on the quest for Oakenwald.

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  2. Wow--that would be horrific, witnessing such a thing! She needs to run as far and as fast as her legs can carry her!

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    1. That is the idea - but where should she run to?

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    2. I don't know, but I bet it will be entertaining discovering where she chooses to go.

      BTW, your New Years greeting is lovely. AT first glance it seemed like van Gogh had painted it. :-)

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    3. You're the second person to suggest van Gogh. It shows the storms on Jupiter.

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  3. This scene is uncharacteristically violent. I can see how it would provide a lot of motivation for her!

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    1. Uncharacteristic in what respect? The previous snippets hinted at a ruthless attack on her village.

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  4. Oh No! I gasped with her. Well done.

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    1. Thanks. It's a darker fantasy than I had originally intended.

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  5. So much violence to witness and unable to do a thing to help. I cringed. Great writing.

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    1. Thank you. She has to be desperate to embark on a dangerous journey.

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  6. You have definitely set up your heroine for a rough ride. It will be hard to get over what she saw and what she lost. Well set up.

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  7. How horrible. What a thing to witness. But a great set up for the rest of the story.
    Tweeted.

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  8. Oh how I feel for this horrified heroine. What a terrible thing to witness but from it, she'll find the courage to survive.

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  9. Oh, how awful. To hide there, unable to do anything has to be horrendous. Love the NASA picture. Those swirling colors are fabulous.

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    1. Thanks. Yes - the NASA photo is superb decoration.

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  10. Sad. Three actually, counting the baby that will never be now. Quite a burden for your heroine to carry as she tries to save herself...

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  11. What a horrible thing to watch. Your heroine will definitely be traumatized.

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    1. I don't want to belittle the experience, but she is a healer and accustomed to seeing sick and dying people.

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  12. How terrible for her! I felt like I could see everything. Great snippet!

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  13. I had the feeling something horrible was coming. So sad she has to witness these atrocities and must stay silent. Emotional snippet!

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  14. How horrible, to have to watch that and know there's nothing she could do to stop it.

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  15. Crazy and horrific to witness three deaths. It must give her the drive to become the person she needs to be.

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  16. Vividly and beautifully shown.

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