SFFSat 10/1/2015 Sorrel in Silver

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. 


Sorrel in Silver is now on sale on Amazon! This snippet is from Chapter Eight - Wrack is confronting another dragonlord, Starron - they are fighting.

 

My dragon was too fast, twisting sideways so that the blue dragon's jaws closed on empty space. Wrack thrust his wing forward and drove the elbow joint into Starron's gut, making his opponent gasp and draw back, winded by the brutal impact. Wrack didn’t let him break away. He dived forward and headbutted the blue-scaled dragon, using the vicious spikes that jutted from the top of his head to carve red weals into his opponent's hide.

But Starron was no weakling. He ignored the gory damage and lashed out with his wing, trying to cave in Wrack's skull. The blow connected, but Wrack has a hard head; I'd tried beating sense into him more than once, and had a pretty good idea of how much force it took to get him to take notice. Wrack didn’t even flinch. Instead, his tail whistled through the air like a whip, snapping hard against Starron's flank. The scaled hide was undamaged, but Starron kicked back viciously, catching Wrack's left leg below the knee. Wrack stumbled, his leg clearly numbed by the impact, and Starron flung himself forward, his teeth sinking into the soft flesh of Wrack's exposed throat. Blood welled from the savage gash. 

 Will Wrack survive? As always, comments appreciated.

 

Freedom of Speech

Everyone has a right to speak their mind. Sometimes, like Anjem Choudary after the Charlie Hebdo murders, people will say things I profoundly disagree with. But in a free society they have a right to say things even if I loathe their words and thoughts and find them deeply offensive. Even a man like Anjem Choudary who preaches the worst kinds of bigotry and hatred has the right to speak out.

However much I disagree with some people's sentiments, I do not have the right to shoot anyone for speaking their mind. Nigel Farage is equally offensive to me, but he too has a right to speak. We must not let that right to freedom of speech be taken from us by cowards and murderers. Yes, sometimes free speech will offend people. I can sympathise with Muslims who found these cartoons offensive. Equally, though, there are Muslims - or people like Anjem Choudary who claim to be Muslims - who say things I think are offensive, too. But freedom of speech means just that.

Charlie Hebdo may well have insulted Muslims. They also insulted Catholics, Jews, politicians of all complexions, environmentalists, right wing extremists, financiers, Baptists, journalists, homosexuals, heterosexuals, people of a confused disposition and cartoonists. I'm not particularly a fan of Charlie Hebdo - but it has every right to exist. We will not let freedom of speech be lost. If you feel insulted by someone, respond in kind - a cartoon for a cartoon. But bullets will not stop us speaking freely.

Je suis Charlie.

Snarqs and Triplanes

This blog is called Dragons and Triplanes - but I haven't actually featured that many examples of either. So here we have a triplane under attack by a snarq, one of the two-headed, acid-spitting flying reptiles from Sorrel's world. It may not be a dragon, but it's close enough!

I created the picture in Poser, with the same triplane model that I used on the cover of Sorrel Snowbound.

Merry Christmas!

Yes, the picture is real, it is not photoshopped, and it was taken in snowy weather early in 2013 less than twenty yards from our house. We have a mammoth. I would say it's cool, but it's too awful a pun.

Merry Christmas!

SFFSat 13/12/2014 Sorrel in Silver

This is my snippet this week for SFFSat. SFFSat is normally a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. Unfortunately, SFFSat apparently isn't running this week, but I hope you enjoy my snippet anyhow!


Sorrel in Silver is now on sale on Amazon! This snippet is from Chapter Eight - Wrack is confronting another dragonlord, Starron.

 

The red dragon flung himself savagely at his rival.

When titans clash, mere humans need to take shelter. Two twelve-foot tall monsters, necks writhing, teeth glittering in the firelight, aimed for each other's throats. This was no gentlemanly duel. This was savage, primal; an attempt by each dragon to crush his rival. The only rule when there is a brawl between dragons is that humans need to get the volg out of there.

Except that the red dragon was my lover. And there was no lafquassing chance I was leaving that room until I knew he was victorious and that the squuming volg of a blue dragon was beaten to a pulp. And if I even suspected Wrack was losing, I intended to use my sorcery to hammer Starron. Wrack would be furious at any interference, but I didn't care. There was no volging way in squum I was going to let Starron hurt my dragon!

Wrack flung himself onto the blue dragon, driving him back against the west wall of the hall. Starron fastened his teeth on Wrack's wing, trying to bite into the powerful muscle of the upper part of the limb. Wrack snarled, red fire licking around his mouth, and slammed his other wing against Starron’s head, trying to dislodge him. Starron whirled, releasing his teeth and twisting his neck so that he could bite Wrack's neck.

 As always, comments appreciated.

Sorrel in Silver launched!

Sorrel in Silver is finally available! Amazon has approved the files for the paperback and the kindle versions, and you can now get the book here!

A pdf version is pending on DriveThru, and should be available by the end of the weekend, and there will be an .epub version on Lulu.

I intend to post a snippet from Sorrel in Silver in my usual SFFSat post - watch this space!!

I would add that if you haven't read Sorrel in Scarlet and Sorrel Snowbound then you should read them both first - Sorrel in Silver concludes the sequence of events that starts in the first two books.

SFFSat 6/12/14 Sorrel in Silver

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. 


All being well, Sorrel in Silver should be released in about a week or so, Amazon willing! To celebrate, my snippet this week is the first dozen lines of the novel.

Whoever said two heads are better than one hasn't had to fight snarqs.

‘The brute’s right behind us!’ Kelhene shouted from the co-pilot's seat. Not the most helpful thing to tell me: I was only too well aware that a two-headed, acid-spitting, bat-winged serpent was tight on my tail. I flung the Cygnet into a dive, shoving the joystick forward and sideways to get the biplane out of its line of fire. The snarq opened both mouths and spat; two gobbets of acid hissed through the air towards us. A moment later, the world went black.

We had flown into one of the columns of thick, black smoke rising from the burning city below us. The airframe of the 'plane shuddered. One – or if we were really unlucky, both – of the acid spittles had hit us, of that I was certain. I could see absolutely nothing in the smoke, so hopefully the snarq couldn't see us either. It also meant that if there was anything in my path, there was no way of evading a collision.


As always, comments appreciated!