Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Writing update #23

Well, I'm slogging along through the second draft of BURNING and working to stay a chapter a head of my critiquing partners for PAINTING, but that really drives me crazy lol. Double edits, DOH! So, every so often, I've been brainstorming for the third stand-alone book in my urban fantasy world. It introduces the third magic system in the world.



Part of my brainstorming process is the 'sample scene.' Check out this sample scene from WATCHING where I'm trying to get a feel for the magic system.




            Kirara reached out with her mind and tasted her necklace’s Orbs.
            Of the seven that touched her skin, only two contained spirits. An ant. And, a cat.
            A lump caught in her throat, and her knees trembled. What am I supposed to do?
            The three Legal Enforces fanned out around her. The bare warehouse shrunk. Was she in a closet? Why was it so hard to breathe?
            She took a step backwards, and the cold wall pressed against her back. Her chest heaved. Am I going to die?
            The air thickened in front of both female Legal Enforcers. With his arms crossed, the male in the group sneered. A haze warped the area around the two women, the sign that they had Socketed a spirit. A monkey appeared over the left shoulder of the woman with purple lipstick, and a hawk materialized behind the red-haired woman’s right leg.
            Fuck me. Kirara clenched her fists before swallowing the spirit of the cat. She forced the spirit into her Pelvic-Socket, and an ethereal cat pranced around her waist as if the air were sold ground.
            The two women blinked.
            Kirara’s leg muscles tightened, and small energy claws grew from her toes. Her senses heightened.
            The flickering light became as bright as the sun. The wisps of mildew stung her nose, and the cold stone at her back turned into ice.
            “Why do you keep following me?” She edged to the left. If I could get a running start … . Her eyes flickered towards the open window half way up the wall across the room.
            “You know why.” The man’s dark brown eyes sparkled in the low light, and when he stepped forward, his blue overcoat rustled. “And you know I won’t let you out of here without returning the prime minister’s device that you stole.”
            “What I stole?”
            “Don’t play dumb.”
            “If I trusted you not to be perverted, I’d let you pat me down to prove I don’t have it.”
            “You think I lured you here to do perverted things? With two other Legal Enforcers? Who both happen to be women?” He narrowed his eyes.
            No, but it may put off guard enough to let me slip past you. “Why else would you trick such a young, sexy girl like myself into an abandoned warehouse?”
            The man started. “I can’t believe —”
            Kirara bolted forward and sprang over the man’s head. Her spirit-enhanced legs pushed her up the far wall. Yes —
            Something approached from the side. Smack! It slammed into her head and sent her crashing into the ground.
            The air left her lungs, and she gasped. As her body rolled across the ground, her head spun. I was … so close. She sprang to her feet.
            The monkey-spirited woman stood nose to nose with Kirara and grinned. “You could have made this easy on yourself.” Like lightning, her arms shot forward and wrapped around Kirara’s shoulders.
            A squeal escaped Kirara’s mouth. Her stomach clenched. “Stop!”
            When the woman gritted her teeth, a heavy pressure contracted around Kirara’s shoulders. Soon, strength fled her muscles, but the woman continued to squeeze.
            The man walked over and flicked Kirara in the nose. Then, he patted her down. “What?” A deep inhalation later, he lifted her chin. “Where is it?”
            “I don’t know what you’re —”
            The monkey-spirited woman shook Kirara like a dog’s favorite rope.
            Vomit burned the back of Kirara’s throat. While shrieking, she puked all over the two Legal Enforces.
            The woman screamed and released Kirara.
            Now … is my chance. Kirara shredded the muscles of the man’s legs and sprinted towards the window. Three steps, a bound and a clawed scramble later, she was falling towards freedom.

 Thanks for reading, 
Travis. 





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