Friday 16 November 2012

SFFSat 17/11/12

This is my snippet this week for SFFSat. SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. Please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here.

My snippet this week is again from Sorrel in Scarlet

CONTENT ADVISORY: this snippet contains an amount of bad language. Don't blame me - blame Sorrel. I've asked my heroine to temper her language - she told me to volg off. So now you know who is to blame.

This is the very beginning of Sorrel in Scarlet.



Any landing you can walk away from is a good one.
This wasn’t.
I crawled out of the wreckage of the dead triplane, grabbing at the jasq to take that, at least, with me as I twisted out of the ripped canvas and broken spars. Blood was oozing from the gash in my side, and from the gash in my head, and probably from the other gashes I hadn't spotted yet.
Merik was dead. A branch had skewered him cleanly through the heart. His face had a look of surprised annoyance. I howled obscenities at the lafquassing scarlet trees that had wrenched the aeroplane into the ground and killed my friend, and more obscenities at Wrack, wherever he might be. I use too much foul language at the best of times - Tolly used to complain that I couldn't complete a sentence without saying 'volg' or 'lafquass' - but now I discovered just how wide a vocabulary of swear-words I possessed.


 Comments welcome, as always!
 

21 comments:

  1. Hee hee!! What a lafquassing good snippet! Gotta love a little bit of swearing peppered into the tale. Good stuff!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks - I really enjoy coming up with faux swear-words (lafquas is actually the Legal Aid Franchise Quality Assurance Standard - which is definitely a swearword in my experience!).

      Delete
  2. Killer first and second line. I re-read them like three times. Great details and you thew in a pinch of humor for lightening the dark moment--lovely.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I spent a long time on these first few lines - I'm glad they work.

      Delete
  3. Oh man...flashbacks to SERENITY. Oy. (Damn you, Joss Whedon!) Wonderful worldbuilding even in this small bit. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hadn't thought of Serenity at all, but yes - it is just the same form of death as Wash suffers.

      Delete
  4. I always enjoy a bit of swearing in dialects I don't know. LOL. This is definitely a great opening to leave me shrieking to know more of what the heck is going on. Nice!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I tried to stop Sorrel swearing, but she can get quite... um... vociferous at times. So the different dialect became an essential.

      Delete
  5. One person walking away is still a relatively good wreck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't tell Sorrel that - she is very angry about losing Marek (and guilty, too). Of course, she has also decided that Wrack is doomed...

      Delete
  6. Now, I'm curious as to what specific objects or actions "volg" and "lafquass" refer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lafquas - the real world explanation is in my reply to tk, but in Sorrel's world - I can't answer you within a family friendly context! Volg ditto, but I will add that volg is a typical four letter word...

      Delete
  7. What a great snippet! Poor Sorrel, though. To go through that...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. First rule of writing - give your charactrs hell. (Ummm, Sorrel, put that sword down... ow! Help!)

      Delete
  8. "Any landing you can walk away from is a good one.
    This wasn’t."

    Gave me chills, Peter!

    :) Heidi

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! That's very flattering - exactly what I was trying to achieve.

      Delete
  9. Foul language! Heck, Sorrel should meet my wife. That would be a colourful conversation, although I can't say I've ever heard her utter 'volg.' I'll check back with her and let you know.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Replies
    1. Thanks! I'm trawling through what I've been writing recently looking for a new snippet for this week - haven't yet found anything I think deserves the spotlight.

      Delete
  11. Frell, I love invented swear words :D

    ReplyDelete