Last SSS Ever and New Historical Beginnings

A bull-baiting in the Cantigas de Santa Maria (thirteenth century).

For the last Six Sentence Sunday ever, I submit a snippet from Seven Noble Knights showing the medieval version of that most Spanish of pursuits, bullfighting. Lambra and her pals have climbed into a second-floor balcony to gaze into the plaza below. Without all the preceding paragraphs, it might be a little confusing: people are closing off the plaza with stacks of timber so the bull will have no means of escape, creating a bullring.

Be sure to check out all the excerpts here, for the last time!

* * *

She hardly had time to ask, “When does it start?” before the last downstairs door was barred and the beast lumbered into the plaza ahead of a couple of boys waving sticks and shouting as they herded it. They dropped the sticks and helped several other men close the fourth timber stack as if it were a door, and the bull was isolated. His black mass heaved mighty breaths and his horns looked so sharp they almost cut the air while he tossed his head and pawed at the ground. Doña Lambra looked deep into his eyes. “Oh, Justa, oh, Álvar! Have you ever seen such an enormous bull?”

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Thank you, readers and participants, for making Six Sentence Sunday such a roaring success, and thank you for stopping by my blog in particular. I wish all the best for SSS's founders.

As for new beginnings: a new blog hop of short excerpts, just for historical fiction, will commence with signups this week! We'll call it The Backward in Time Blog Hop -- or something better.

Check back on Thursday for the complete rules and to sign up! I have a short roster of great authors already, and I'm not afraid to chase you down!

SSS and Call For Historical Authors

Welcome to one of the final Six Sentence Sundays! Please visit the official site for more wonderful snippets than you can handle.

I've been sharing bits from my medieval epic, The Seven Noble Knights of Lara. Six revised sentences from the very important chapter where everything starts to go to hell are below. There was a lot of concern over the horse portions. Please tell me if this is any more realistic than before (first draft here). And keep reading after the snippet for an idea for all my historical novelist pals!

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Gonzalo drove his fist into Don Álvar’s face so hard that he collapsed at the feet of his horse, which reared with an almost human shriek. With nowhere else to land in the crush of people, its sharp hooves came down on its rider’s flesh. It reared again and again in terror and confusion as knights and pages darted under it, trying to pull Don Álvar to safety. Finally Muño Salido seized the reins and led the horse, still kicking, away. Don Álvar’s teeth bounced and rolled on the soft earth or landed on people’s pointed shoes like fallen pebbles. Shining blood sprouted from his body and raced outward, covering the ground with a steaming red plague.
 

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Now that the official SSS is nearly over, I've been wondering if it would be a good idea to start a new, more specialized blog hop, for those authors in the audience who write historical fiction. Historical would be defined as fiction that takes place in a time before the author was born. Would you hystericals -- I mean, historicals -- like to hop around the centuries and share short excerpts of your work? Please comment below if you're interested in participating, and I'll ask around, too. Results of this question and full details will appear next Sunday.

Thanks for stopping by! Thanks for Six Sentence Sunday! And thanks for your comments and ideas!

SSS: A New Fiancé

The cover of the program of an academic congress about the medieval epic poem upon which The Seven Noble Knights of Lara is based.

For today's excerpt of my revisions of The Seven Noble Knights of Lara, I thought I'd do something new and give you a dialogue-heavy snippet. It's still the first chapter, and the Count of Castile, Doña Lambra's cousin, has come to tell her he's going to marry her off to his most valuable vassal. She is none too pleased.

* * *

“He’s completed his thirty-fifth year.”

She couldn’t help but wring her hands at the thought of a grey beard and broken teeth, worms sprouting out of every orifice. Maybe he wouldn’t live that long, then she would administer all the territory they had between them.

“Is he landed?”

“He has a few parcels in the region of Lara, called Vilviestre.”

“A few parcels?”

* * *

That's not the last piece of her mind she's going to give him!

Thanks so much stopping by! I trade comments for comments! Get a lot more wonderful excerpts today at SixSunday.com.

Six Sentence Sunday: Beginnings

For my little contribution to the farewell of Six Sentence Sunday (click on that for a lot of other great excerpts!), I thought I'd share some of the revisions I'm working on for The Seven Noble Knights of Lara. It can still be improved, I'm sure!

These are now the first six sentences of the novel. Do they grab your attention, or are they too calm?

* * *

           The sun began to relent from its long day's punishment of Busto de Bureba. The fish in the river sought out the barely forming shadows cast by rocks and branches. Inside a stone house, under a thatched roof, twenty maidservants and their lady planned a cool evening meal, brought in the washing, and put away the day's sewing without bumping into each other.
           Doña Lambra looked out the open door at the fields where her vassals were setting down their scythes and pitchforks for the day. Most of the serfs would return to their tiny homes in town, but some of the overseers lived on the estate, and would come to the main hall for supper. If nothing went wrong, in another seven mornings or so, Lambra would have to provide some kind of reward for successful haying, and the laborers would all expect meals at the haystacks in the meantime. 

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Thanks so much for stopping by! I return comments for comments!

SSS: Those Talking Rhinos

Suzanne and Jake on a good day.

This Sunday, I'd like to draw attention to a story I wrote in January of 2011 and haven't been able to publish yet. I would really like people to be able to read this story. Cross your fingers that someone who publishes stories "gets" it soon!

The excerpt is from "Not Extinct Yet." Human researchers Suzanne and Derek are talking with their favorite crash of rhinos about new approaches to the poaching problem. Sasha is the matriarch white rhino and Jake is her young son.

* * * 

“It’s an education program you need,” said Derek.

“Precisely,” agreed Sasha. “Let the consumers know that the product they pay so much for has no real value.”

“Oh!” said Suzanne in the throes of a forming idea. “We need to let them know that rhino horns have no more medicinal value than…”

“Than chewing your own fingernails!” finished Jake. 

* * *

One of the journals I submitted to made the strange assumption that the talking rhinos were stand-ins for some human issue. I'm not trying to be metaphorical, I swear! I gave that up years ago! The rhinos represent rhinos. I wanted to give them a voice, and as an author, it was easy enough to do.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Check out the other great snippets at Six Sentence Sunday. If these rhinos have piqued your interest, please have a look at my review of The Last Rhinos and a suggestion for how you can help if you are so inclined (don't feel obliged).

SSS: Stay in Your Own Bed

Starting up again in The Seven Noble Knights of Lara after last week's segment, there's not much Doña Lambra can do about the midnight disturbance, but she does what she can.

* * *

“Ermenegildo Antolínez, I will not tolerate that kind of mixing in my household,” Lambra said, as gruffly as she could to cover her panic. Which of her ladies had it been? It could have been any of them except Justa, who remained there by her side.

“Did you hear that, everybody? Stay in your own bed,” Ermenegildo called out. He was answered by several guffaws and many exhausted moans. 

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Check out the other wonderful excerpts at sixsunday.com. Thanks for stopping by here and keeping my novel on track!

SSS: Medieval Sleeping Arrangements and Derangements

Last week, we experienced the layout of the crowded hall and got rid of the spiders so we could sleep on our straw pallets. It's not going to be a night of uninterrupted sleep for doña Lambra.

* * * 

Her eyes snapped open into profound blackness. She heard the normal sounds of people breathing around the perimeter of the hall and shifting on top of their crackling straw ticks. A bead of sweat ran over her ear. She felt as if the fireplace she lay next to contained a roaring blaze even though the flame must have died hours before. She threw a blanket off to her side and her nostrils were assaulted with her own scent as she felt where the wispy chainse was stuck to her wet skin.

           Then she heard it: the rhythmic soft moaning of a man and woman. 

* * *

Uh-oh, I don't think the new lady of the manor is going to like that!

Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your comments so very much and always respond in kind. Check out all the great clips at sixsunday.com.

SSS: Medieval Sleeping Arrangements

It wasn't all four-poster beds and brocade curtains in the tenth century. This segment from The Seven Noble Knights of Lara, which comes shortly after last week's, shows that a thousand years ago, people had never heard of "comfort."

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“I don’t think I’ve ever hosted this many people before,” explained Ermenegildo Antolínez.

After a supper of stew with onions, leeks, and carrots, the landholder and the seven brothers moved the table against the wall in order to make more room for two long rows of bodies to sleep side by side. Lambra claimed the spot nearest the fireplace and set Justa’s bedding next to her for insulation from everyone else. Lambra was glad that Justa knew to direct that the sexes be segregated just like they were in Bureba, with women all in Lambra’s row and all the men in the other across a cleared aisle, although Ermenegildo Antolínez’s wife quietly took her place next to her husband, directly across from Lambra. Toward the end of the hall where they’d placed the chamber pot, it was found that there weren’t enough bed pallets, so Little Page and Lambra’s other male servants followed Ermenegildo Antolínez to the barns to get more hay. Once every last person had a straw tick of some sort to lie atop, and all the spiders that ran out of the straw had been stepped on, swatted, burned, or drowned, travelers and hosts could finally rest.

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Thanks so much for stepping into my historical Spanish world for a moment. I appreciate your comments so much! I return the favor in kind. The official Six Sentence Sunday site is here. Can't wait to see all the great snippets next week!

SSS: Arriving to Play in the Fountain

Imagine this big enough for seven guys to splash in.

I only meant to be away for a month, and now that I'm finally back I find the official Six Sentence Sunday has announced that it will soon come to an end. I've not only got all my stuff but moved across the country, so changes are everywhere.

This segment picks up a bit after the last one. The travelers have come to Barbadillo and Lambra is meeting the head of the estate, Ermenegildo Antolínez:

* * *

He kissed her hand deferentially. “You have my fealty, doña Lambra.”

“Thank you, don Ermenegildo. We’ve come all the way from Burgos. Would you be so kind as to show us where we will be eating and sleeping?”

Before she had finished her last sentence, the seven brothers had abandoned all solemnity and darted to the fountain, where, like dogs, they washed the dust from their faces and drank out of their cupped hands, then splashed each other and made such a noise that the hunting hounds emerged from the hills, barking and howling.

“You would never know that the oldest of them is a score and five years old,” Ermenegildo Antolínez said, waving the rest of the travelers toward the farmhouse. 

* * *

Not to spoil anything, but this is the calm before the storm.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I return all comments as I'm able. 

SSS: Maybe She's Crazy...

I've been participating in Six Sentence Sunday (follow the link for more mind-blowing excerpts) for an entire year. It's done wonders for my blog in ways I never imagined. Thank you to the organizers and the participants!

These six follow on in Chapter Six of The Seven Noble Knights of Lara several pages after last week's. The seven, their mother, and doña Lambra have agreed to travel to Barbadillo, ostensibly to see if there is any good hunting. We're inside Lambra's head, on the road.

* * *

The second day, as they entered narrow passageways between rocky outcrops shaded by pines, the seven brothers surrounded Lambra on their horses as if they were her personal guard. She looked at the wispy brown hairs moving with the breeze on the back of Gonzalo’s neck and imagined using a shining copper razor to get rid of that ridiculous stubble on his chin, holding the smoothed face in her hands, bringing the round red lips toward hers. No: not even finishing the friendly shave before – accidentally, of course – making a sudden strategic slit under his ear, all the way across to the other ear.

She cleared her throat and said loudly for Gonzalo to hear, “Oh, Justa, do you think there are robbers hiding in these hills? It’s doesn’t matter anyway, with my nephews here to protect me.”

Every one of the brothers grinned, baring white teeth, and sat up a little taller in his saddle. 

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Thanks for stopping by! I have eternal gratitude for those who comment!

I may be taking a short hiatus from SSS in the rest of April, for reasons that I hope will be really great. Stay tuned.

SSS: Quick Healers

This is the bird Suero takes with him everywhere. Imagine sitting across the breakfast table from this guy!

We're still with doña Lambra at that breakfast, following last week's post.

* * *

She slid her gaze to Gonzalo’s face and saw that he had healed much more quickly than Ruy Blásquez. Five faint reddish spots were the only reminder of the cut that had made him lose so much blood. Doña Sancha sat next to doña Lambra and looked up at her eagerly. Lambra seized the goblet back from Gonzalo and took another swig.

“Ruy Blásquez must abandon me to my fate. Don’t you leave me, too, dear sister,” she said.

* * *

I think some scheming is taking place...

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving comments! I appreciate it sooooooo much and will return the favor.

Charmaine Gordon, I always enjoy your snippets, but I just can't comment on your blog. Sorry!

SSS: Desire for the Enemy part 2

We're still in doña Lambra's head. These lines follow directly from last week's.

* * *

That young, sinuous arm pushing the flap open did not belong to her husband. Her eyes snapped open. They alit on Suero, sitting across from his mother, with that ever-present goshawk perched on his specially padded shoulder. He handed bits of bread up to its sharp beak. She wondered at his audacity to carry the bird with him after what it had done to her husband’s face. The count should have had it killed. 

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Thanks so much for stopping by! I appreciate your comments more than I can say. I will definitely return the visit!

Check out all the great sentences at SixSunday.com.

SSS: Desire for the Enemy

It's a big Sunday!

Daylight Savings is taking place all over the world -- but not where I live, this crazy land, Arizona. (We really don't have any use for it, I understand now, the second time I've gone through this process here.)

The Tucson Festival of Books is in its second day! Come one, come all! Don't miss it! I'll be sure to blog about it as soon as I recover.

And of course, it's Six Sentence Sunday! Thanks for stopping by. These lines don't follow on directly after last week's. In the interim, we've discovered that the husbands are going to survey the lands with the Count, leaving Sancha and Lambra to fend for themselves. Together, the aunt, the sister-in-law, and the nephews go to the inn to get some breakfast.

* * * 

The innkeeper and his wife served day-old white bread, olive oil, and wine they poured out of a skin into two wooden goblets. Lambra took a sip and set her goblet down, only for Gonzalo González to reach across her for it, thoroughly bumping his tempered steel arm against hers.

“Excuse me, Aunt.”

           How had he managed to sit down by her? Doña Lambra closed her eyes to shut out the anger, but in the dark she saw herself naked, in the bridal tent, alone. Who was coming through the door to quench her desire? 

* * *

Hmm. I fear I may be giving away a bit too much about Lambra's mental state here... I really appreciate all your comments. Due to the Book Festival, I probably won't get to visit any sites today, but I'll visit you all at the crack of dawn on Monday. All the great sentences are at SixSunday.com.

SSS: Self-Control

Not to give too much away, but this is what Lambra would like to do to Gonzalo. 

I had my writing group this week, so I'm really geared up to share The Seven Noble Knights of Lara with all of you. Thanks so much for all the comments over these weeks. I visit everyone whose site I can find!

These lines follow on right after last week's.

* * *

She resolved never to accept the González family as her own. She would regain control of her situation, even if it meant deception. “I accept your apologies and the Count of Castile has arranged for there to be no disputes on either side. You have nothing to worry about from me.” Justa, Gotina, the other maids, and Little Page had come up to stand beside her. She felt comforted to have as many people with her as her sister-in-law. 

* * *

These lines look a little flat right now, but in the context I thought they worked really well -- what do you think? Lambra is all about quiet composure here. The rage is all under the surface... for now.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Check out the other great sentences here.

SSS: Smoldering Coals

Take the ribbon out of the picture and wipe the smiles off their faces for a better idea of what's going on in this snippet. 

Thanks for all the compliments over the past couple of weeks. I'm so happy to be able to share these sentences with you! These take place just after last week's six from The Seven Noble Knights of Lara.

* * *

Young Gonzalo surged forward from the crowd of brothers and knelt before Lambra. “I’m especially sorry. Can you ever forgive me?” He took her hand and kissed it deferentially.

           Doña Lambra pulled away: the touch burned her like smoldering coals. She had not chosen him to be her nephew any more than she had wanted to marry. 

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It was really hard to keep this to just six sentences. Lambra's head is an interesting place to be for me, and I hope for you, too. Check out all the sentences at SixSunday.com.

SSS: Concern for Lambra's Wellbeing

Thanks for the enthusiasm last week! This is the part in The Seven Noble Knights of Lara after the inciting incident that could be pretty dull if not written properly. I'm hugely thankful for your feedback and comments! This segment follows on directly after last week's.

* * * 

Doña Lambra’s muscles tensed when doña Sancha and her sons appeared with their tutor Muño Salido, approaching in a procession that recalled the funeral of the day before. Lambra focused her energy on wiping away new tears and twisting her braid in her hand as she waited for them to arrive. Doña Sancha stayed several paces away and the men all stayed behind her. Lambra set her jaw, thinking that any normal person would have come up and clasped her hands in concern for her wellbeing.

“We’re here to express our condolences once again,” Sancha said across the space between them.

The young knights and their tutor made sweeping bows. 

* * *

Hmm... is all forgiven, or not? Check out the other great sentences at Six Sentence Sunday. Thanks for stopping by!

SSS: The Party's Over

The bank of the Arlanzón River in 2005, more than 1000 years after the events in this novel.

Thanks so much for the comments and visits last week! I enjoyed your snippets, too!

Although the wedding celebrations were expected to continue for several more weeks, the tragic events in Chapter 5 of The Seven Noble Knights of Lara have called everything to a halt. This segment comes a few sentences after last week's.

* * *

When doña Lambra was ready, they left the tent. Justa went to fetch the other maidens and her lady looked down the riverbank. For five weeks it had been festooned with tents and banners and people in all manner of occupations. Now, the multitudes that had arrived in Burgos with such pomp for the wedding festivities had quietly dispersed over the last three days, returning to their own lands. Each morning a few more of the man-made features had disappeared, until finally the entire bank was plucked bald. All that remained as evidence of the merriment was a lamentable groove in the dust where men and horses had proven their worth against a wooden castle. 

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Don't forget to check out all the other wonderful sentences at Six Sentence Sunday. Thanks so much for stopping by and helping inspire me as I try to finish this novel.

SSS: Eternity without Teeth

Doña Lambra is having trouble relating to her new husband and has sent him after her maid and close ally, Justa. This segment follows right after last week's:

* * *

She licked her chapped lips and coughed, wondering if she could ever bring balance to her bodily humors after such a day. She had wailed and beat her chest for hours after they laid Álvar Sánchez’s body into the ground wrapped in linen, so close to other knights who had died defending Castile. With Justa’s help, she had collected all of Álvar’s teeth in a leather pouch and drawn the string tightly closed. After the blessings, she had set the pouch on his chest, so that it almost looked like he was holding them in his folded hands through the cloth.

“It isn’t right that someone so handsome should have to meet eternity without his teeth,” Lambra whispered aloud. 

           “We did our best for him, my lady.” 

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Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your comments so much! I'm glad to see many of you remember the story, too! I'll definitely be by to visit your blogs!

SSS: Emotional Aftermath of the Bloody Wedding

The Seven Noble Knights of Lara is back! You may remember Chapter 5, in which male egos got out of hand and caused the death of Álvar Sánchez. (Check out almost all the excerpts in this link.) A legal compromise has apparently satisfied all concerned parties, but now it's the opening of Chapter 6, and we focus in on doña Lambra -- the bride as well as the cousin of the dead man.

* * *

Doña Lambra woke to the brightness of the tent with a bitter taste in her mouth and dried tears crusting her eyes. She rolled over and saw a figure moving about in silence.

“Justa?” she croaked.

Ruy Blásquez moved next to the bedstead, nearly thrusting his bandaged nose in her face. “It is I, my dear wife.”

           “Bring Justa.” 

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Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your comments hugely, especially as I get back into writing this novel after a hiatus. I'll visit you all in return! Check us all out at Six Sentence Sunday.

SSS: Did You Find Me?

The server was down when I first tried to sign up for Six Sentence Sunday this week, and by the time I could get there, I ended up much father down the list than I usually am. So if you found me, congrats! Visit  all the great writers you can. We all appreciate it more than even words can say!

I'm pretty sure I'm going to excise the kidnapping element from this story, so please enjoy it while it's still there. Continuing from last week:

* * *

“Only pretty girls without degrees have been disappearing.”

         So now he thought he was a profiler. It was like something from a formulaic TV show. But he was right in that, although my sister had applied to all the good drama schools in the country, nothing had worked out for her in the end. She was living with our parents because the money a person can earn from acting in commercials and student films is small and unstable. I chalked up the cops’ surrender to the fact that none of them were twins and accessed my twinly intuition – or just some solid logic – and I thought she must have gone to New York to increase her chances. 

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Thanks for reading! I return the favor! In the coming weeks, I'll present more medieval madness...

And please don't forget! This is the last day to throw your name into the hat for the Transcendent giveaway!