It’s time for Snippet Sunday The fires are still blowing smoke into the air, so we’re back to dreadfully hot days in Cheyenne. 90+ F and the sunlight is orange. Not fun for people without AC. Good for writing and reading, though.
In happier news, 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’s the first story in a serial set of four. I’m working on #3 now.
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. You can get caught up with earlier snippets HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. In this snippet, Iliana has realized the men talking about the oncoming army weren’t kidding.
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A huge dust cloud rose from the sands into the clear blue sky, larger than the one Crowe and his raiders had made.
“Uh, horse, what is that?” she asked slowly.
“I suspect it’s the approaching army.”
Her gut sank again. “That’s an army? Dear God, it must be huge.”
“It’s rumored to be something around thirty thousand strong.”
“Shit. Really?” She debated the likelihood the army would pass them by. “They’re coming straight at us.”
“I believe they are chasing Crowe and his merry band of thieves.”
“Thieves? Terrific.” She hurriedly turned the horse around and nudged him into a gallop back the way they’d come. “Is there some name I can call you other than ‘horse’? I have a feeling we might be working together for a while and I would really like to avoid ambiguities.”
“You may call me Aristotle.” He bounded down the dune like a jackrabbit. Not a comfortable ride, but she held on as well as she could.
“As in…the Greek…philosopher? How very…egotistical…of you.” Each landing robbed her of her breath.
“What do you plan on doing when you get back to the oasis?” he asked in response. “Will you stand and fight the army?”
“Do I look like I can take on an army?” She shook her head as Aristotle hit the swale between dunes. “Don’t answer that. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t even know what I’m doing here.”
“You could always lead the others across the desert to the west,” Aristotle suggested.
“And how am I supposed to do that when I don’t know the way?”
“You could always trust your horse. I know the way across and all the water holes.”
Iliana scoffed. “When were you planning on telling me you knew the way?”
“As soon as you asked me about it.”
~~~~~~~
Nothing like a snarky horse to make your day harder. 😉 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.
Oh my god, I LOVE the horse!
She’d better figure out how to cope with this horse FASSST! But I love the horse…really a fun snippet, despite the oncoming hordes of bad guys.
I love, love, love, the snarky talking horse. Nicely written!