Pico, Day 29

[elmey.livejournal.com]

Here's today's post for your snippets, comments, thoughts.

Comments

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

.... Aaand by dint of simply doing nothing else all morning, along with a hefty dose of panic, I got the challenge story finished. 2800 odd words in two days, mostly plot-lite vignettes strung together with the chocolate. It's over at my journal if anyone is interested...

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

A brilliant effort, well done!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I've just read it and laughed my head off!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Kudos on finishing! Deadlines really are good for concentrating the mind, and what a cute result -- I loved it, from the coffins onwards.

[elmey.livejournal.com]

Those are funny and clever, no one would guess panic :) Some of it made me think of the old Retief stories.

[saki101.livejournal.com]

That worked out very well in the end and those were quite the prompts you came up with!!

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

Hurrah for finishing! You don't want to know how far behind I am on reading LJ.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I was so nearly first! This is an extract from something completely different - a longstanding idea that I had an idea for the first line of on the bus to work. I won't be picking it up as a project as yet, but it has made me feel enthusiastic about doing so in the future.

*

The trolls were setting fire to the newspapers again.

In the old days, they had set fire to the telephone directories in the public telephone boxes. Telephone directories in phone boxes had long since gone the way of all flesh - or almost all flesh - but happily, free newspapers at the bus stop had come to replace them. The newspapers were replaced daily and the trolls, showing due consideration, waited to burn them until the evening. Strictly speaking they ought to have been recycled, but as long as they weren’t left blowing about the streets no-one particularly cared about that. There was no shortage of trees in the neighbourhood and general feeling was that the faint smell of smoke for an hour after sunset added to the charm of the place.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

This is fun!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Kudos on getting energy for a new project. I love the style you are developing here. Very intriguing!

[elmey.livejournal.com]

It is a great first line! And I love the overall tone. You keep throwing out snippets for stories I want to read :)

[saki101.livejournal.com]

What a terrific opening line! (See the smoke trails...)

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

That made me grin immoderately - I do like modern-day magic with a touch of humour :)

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

I like that a lot.

A Matter of Time

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I've finished Chapter 7. Phew. It will need proofreading and rechecking before I'd actually post it, but at least it's done for now.

Excerpt:

They emerge again a short time later, in a steamy maze of vertical, diagonal and horizontal conduits, escorted by the three Suliban, who now hold Archer’s plasma pistol. The situation has vague similarities to an official arrest.

“Do you think they’re taking us to their leader?” Archer jokes. Hoshi’s wordless glare speaks volumes. “No, I don’t think so, either,” he continues, completely unfazed by the fact that they’ve been captured.

Hoshi gives him another glare. “Be careful what you wish for, Captain – you might get it!”

Where they’re actually brought is a small, open area, where Sandra and Ianto are already being held. It’s obviously very warm in there because Sandra has already shed her parka and is about to get rid of her blouse without taking off her corset.

“What?” she snaps at Archer whose eyes are widening at the sight. “It’s boiling hot in here; and it’s not as if the lizards would care.”

The Suliban seem fairly indifferent indeed.

Re: A Matter of Time

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Kudos on chapter finishing! Holidays are clearly very good for your writing. I like the steamy maze of vertical, diagonal and horizontal conduits, very atmospheric. And I can well see alien reptiles being indifferent to human mammary development, where spaceship captains are not :)

RE: A Matter of Time

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Good news on chapter finishing. I suspect that I'd be finding Archer's sense of humour trying too, in that situation.

RE: A Matter of Time

[elmey.livejournal.com]

Another finished chapter, you've been incredibly productive!

I want to know who else is shedding clothes :)

RE: A Matter of Time

[saki101.livejournal.com]

Brilliant progress and ahead of schedule!

The Captain might be topless soon, too, I imagine.

RE: A Matter of Time

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

It's a good feeling, (though to be honest, few of my little efforts have more than one chapter... but it's still a good feeling to finish one!!!)

Archer is something of a character, I take it {g}

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

Just over 400 words today, although I'm less tired than the last couple of nights. But I reached the end of a chapter, so it seemed like a good point to stop. Edward and Rupert are chatting in the kitchen:

Rupert removed the coffee pot from the stove. "Did I tell you that I found a grave up near Derwentdale Hall? It belonged to the Dowager Duchess Margaret – and I think relatives of the Dukes of Norfolk cared for it when they owned the land."

"They might well have done. Do you know the story of how Duchess Margaret came to be buried there?"

"She was the last Catholic Peveril, at least until..." Roo trailed off, then began again, "And the FitzAlan Howards are the most powerful Catholics in the country, which must be why they looked after her."

"Quite possibly," Edward said, making an informed guess as to what Roo had left unsaid. "But there was a marriage proposed between a Peveril and a very distant relative of the 11th Duke of Norfolk in the 1800s. Cecilia: if you've heard of her."

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Family history is always intriguing.

[saki101.livejournal.com]

237 words today that I think will work. Some of them ~

***

Mycroft held out his hand for Kit’s phone.

“Arrange for his transfer to Bart’s and for his mother to see him first,” Sherlock said, flipping the mobile between his fingers.

“Fine.” Mycroft pressed a button on his phone and got up.

Red slid off his shoes where he had been dozing.

“A change in plans,” Mycroft said into the mobile as he walked into the hallway. The door clicked shut behind him.

Red arrived a moment too late and stretched up towards the door handle.

John shook his head. “You’ve a ways to grow before that,” he said.

Red pushed and the door rattled slightly against the jamb.

[elmey.livejournal.com]

Something tells me Red may not need that door handle ;) I like this set of words, very characteristic Mycroft, very characteristic Red.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

More editing. Got to one of the scenes that needs a lot of work - it is very rough and needs more thought.

[elmey.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you're back in the flow though, seeing how the scenes fit into the piece.

[elmey.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry for having been awol for a while, at least in the comments. But some health issues came up and they always manage to cascade somehow. Much better now :)

I couldn't get back in the mood of the piece I've been working on though. Instead I started making notes and doing some research for another story I owe someone. I may have lost a bet in the World Cup pool last year or something like that.... In any case, I've had a basic idea for the story all along, and the recipient wants some New York scenes (she's going to illustrate it) so I was mapping out where various things can happen and what those various things will be. I'm pretty sure she's hoping for romantic NY scenes, heh. Luckily she knows me pretty well and isn't holding her breath ;)

[saki101.livejournal.com]

Glad you feeling better.

The new story sounds intriguing, too, and selecting locations is such fun.

[candidlily.livejournal.com]

46 words on Wednesday!