It’s time for Snippet Sunday and I don’t have a new book coming – at least not yet. But I have been writing despite COVID-19 and the summertime. It’s been getting into the 90s F (30s C) each day (at 6000 ft elevation) and that means we hide in the house anyway, so there’s more time to actually sit and write.
But I do have some books I’ve been working on and some new covers coming on an existing tale. I started writing a serial email story once a week back in 2000. In 2015, I published the first section of this tale, The Ivory Road: A Walk in the Sand, as a re-edited story. It did very well and I managed to get the second one out. But then stalled. I’m now working on the third one and my cover artist convinced me to make new covers for all of them so they’d match.
So today I’m showcasing A WALK IN THE SAND and it’s already out where you can grab a copy. It’s only in ebook until I get the other two sections done. Iliana Vanessa Rory, stage named Ivory, is taking some much needed time away before her next movie shoot. But something went wrong and now she’s in a golden sand desert…when she left a white sand one.
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She scanned the horizon, looking for a place to settle in the shade, but the only relief from the blazing sunlight belonged to the shadows in the lee of the dunes. The wind stiffened and kicked up some of the sand near the toes of her boots. She pushed her sunglasses up onto her head and covered her eyes with her hands as the sand grains pelted her skin in a hard tattoo.
She stepped to the side as the wind blew her off balance and coughed in the hot, stiff wind. When it blew itself out, she shook her head and opened her eyes.
Something’s not right.
Iliana stared out at the sand dunes baking in the midday sun, concerned she might be hallucinating. Maybe a solo-hiking trip wasn’t the smartest idea. The sands had changed color, not just shifted in the light, but turned a rich gold as if someone had baked them too long in the oven. Did the wind blow my glasses down onto my eyes?
She patted her head for the glasses then the hip pockets of her shorts. No pockets, no shorts. She dropped her gaze. A black surcoat embroidered with silver thread covered her body, secured to her waist with a black silk sash. She clapped her hands to her chest, searching for her pack straps, but only encountered more embroidered coat.
What the hell?
Her hand banged on the hilt of a sword hanging from a thick black leather belt around her waist. She froze. What the—? She drew the sword carefully out of its scabbard, the light from the blazing sun etching the blade. It stretched as long as her arm from shoulder to fingertips in a gently curved line with scrolling runes carved into the metal. Worn leather wrapped the hilt and chips marked the straight guard. The question was how did she get it?
~~~~~~~
Well that’s a helluva wake-up call. 😉 There are several great authors on the Weekend Writer Warriors list, the Snippet Sunday Facebook group, and the Rainbow Snippets Facebook group. A few of my favorites are, P.T. Wyant, Karen Michelle Nutt, Veronica Scott, Jessica Subject, Karysa Faire, and Iris Blobel.
Here’s the blurb for A WALK IN THE SAND:
Available Now
The adventure of Ivory’s lifetime might just be the death of her…
When it comes to make believe, A-list actress Ivory is a professional. But when a desert hike takes her across a dimensional rift, her real-life self, Iliana Rory, must separate fantasy from reality. The man she swears is the costar in her next movie might share the same surname and appearance, but there are no sets in this Mr. Crowe’s world, no props, and no director to yell “cut” before blood is spilled.
With a fortune in stolen treasure and the forces of the Knalish army hot on their trail, Brandon Crowe and his partner, Ahmad, must cross a desert neither of them knows well. Mistaken for their guide, Iliana seizes any chance to stay ahead of the army and survive in this new world.
Adventure straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster might be on Iliana’s bucket-list, but she never dreamed there’d be the real possibility of death when the end credits roll. A Walk in the Sand is the first story in the four part serial recounting Iliana’s journey along the Ivory Road.