Six Sentence Sunday: What a Disaster of a Wedding

We're starting again right where we left off in my WIP The Seven Noble Knights of Lara, in the middle of Gonzalo's sassy speech after he's been severely wounded by his uncle, the groom at this ill-fated wedding:

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Swiveling once again, tottering precariously, he continued, "But Uncle, for the sake of your love for me, I beg you not to hit me again, because you couldn't suffer the consequences."

Ruy Blásquez raised his lance once again, over doña Sancha's protests, but this time Gonzalo was able to dodge the blow so that it hit his shoulder and did not cut him, but broke in two. Taking advantage of Ruy Blásquez's surprise, Gonzalo seized the goshawk from his brother Suero's arm and, screaming with the bird at the slicing of its talons into his arm, forced it into his uncle's face. The bird struck out with its beak in indignation. Sancha cried, "Stop!" but before Suero intervened to coax the agitated hawk back onto his protected hand, Ruy Blásquez's nose had begun to bleed copiously.

At the sight of her husband's blood, doña Lambra began to look around her.

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Thank you for coming by and for commenting! I appreciate what you have to say very much, as these snippets have a lot more editing to go through. The other amazing snippets are to be found here.

Third Sweet Saturday

The thirteenth of any month is the sweetest for me, since I met my husband on a February thirteenth and we married on September 13, 2009. Whenever the thirteenth rolls around, it's some kind of anniversary for us!

How to come up with a snippet that's as sweet as that? Not easy, but here's the loving couple from the anchor story of my collection, Threads Woven. (All but one of the stories are G to PG, and even the nastier one is light and humorous!)

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Miriam stopped running the water. “I’m sorry, George. You know I’m the jealous type.”

George rose from the counter and held Miriam close, where he could smell her hair and kiss her neck. “I really can’t blame you, with that foxy husband you’ve got!”

Miriam sighed. “He’s so understanding, too, I know he won’t mind Leila staying here.”

George escorted Miriam to the living room couch and adopted the same serious tone as Miriam. “What are your plans for Leila? How long will she stay?”

“Well, she’s nineteen, so it’s probably kind of late to adopt her...”

“Adopt her!”

“But I thought we could take her in unofficially until she’s ready to make her own way in the world.”

George looked for traces of sanity in Miriam’s face. He grasped her hands in her lap. “Dear, does this have anything to do with your not having seen Elizabeth for a few months? You do know, don’t you, that eventually even a mother’s work is finished?”

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Threads Woven is available for hardly any money at all through this ad link. Also in Nook! Enjoy the new, reader-approved cover!

Please see all the sweet excerpts here. I 100% guarantee that I will visit the sites and leave comments for those who comment here once I send my sweeting back into the wide world of work.

Birthday Facts About Jessica K

Fact 1: Today is my birthday!

2: I am the product of a scheduled C-section, since I refused to come out of breech position. A lot of that stubbornness and choosing to be different at any cost has accompanied me during my time on earth.

3: My husband, whose voice is so deep and resonant that the first thing anyone says to him is usually, "You should be on the radio!" sings me the birthday song for many days on either end of the actual day, with lyrics adjusted to fit ("...Happy two days before your birthday, happy birthday to you!").

4: It's good that I appreciate little things like item 3, since we won't be able to afford anything more elaborate this year.

5: I've never been in a desert environment for my birthday before. Even the summer I spent in Andalucía, by the time my birthday rolled around I was in green, rainy Galicia (Northwest Spain) listening to bagpipes, utterly blissed out.

6: Summer birthdays were hard when I was growing up because you didn't see your friends to invite them to your party, so if there was a party, it was a pretty quiet affair.

7: I think my favorite birthday ever was my 25th, because I was in England for the year with a bunch of other people who loved the Middle Ages enough to get a degree in their study. I invited everyone I knew to a good Spanish restaurant and had a very fine time. My beau even brought out a surprise chocolate cake that wasn't as dry as all the other British chocolate cake I'd tasted. :)

8: That isn't to knock my more recent birthdays, when my true love has done everything in his power to make me happy. But he does that every day of the year, so who's keeping track on one silly day?

Cover Contest Winner!

Thanks so much to everyone who voted.

It was so close! The winner is "Vanity," by a nose. The new version of the book will be available by tomorrow.

And one lucky winner gets free copy!

For everyone's information, the artist of the "Quilt" cover is Erin McGuire. She makes a living creating gorgeous artwork and covers for all kinds of books. Check her out!

More Blood and Guts for Six Sentence Sunday

I got major clamors to keep posting six sentences at a time from this sequence following the death of Álvar Sánchez, so here we are, continuing from last week (when Gonzalo the younger was smacked in the face with a sharp lance tip by his own uncle!).

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At the sight of her son's blood, Sancha lunged toward the wound with a handkerchief grabbed unconsciously from the serving girl Luz's hands. But Gonzalo pushed her away, staining her sleeves with garish red-brown smears. He got back to his feet, wobbling, refusing his brothers' and mother's help with great bravado.

"For God's sake, Uncle," he said almost merrily, "as your nephew, I never deserved such a blow from you." He turned to his brothers. "I beg you not to sue my uncle over my death if I die here."

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Next week: the sassy end of the speech and more blood spilled. Thanks for tuning in and leaving comments. I appreciate constructive criticism for this key scene so very much!

Please visit the other great excerpts here.

Second Sweet Saturday

Sweet Saturday Samples is the best idea I've seen in a long time and I thank the organizer very much. I'm doing something very not sweet on Sundays, so I appreciate the chance to balance my karma on the webs.

This sweet snippet is from "Club Love," one of the stories making their published debut in Threads Woven and Other Stories for Women (see here for cover voting and contest, ends Monday!). The entire book is PG-13, with only one story ("Justine") dropping a well-earned f-bomb and containing a comedy murder. All the other stories are safe G to PG content. Enjoy!

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         “Club Ai,” the sign said. The letters were much more modest than the other tacky billboards in that part of town. Even though it almost looked tasteful, Meredith was bewildered.

“Another club? That’s all I need to make me happy?”

“Try it, you’ll like it,” said Verity, and this time she was telling the truth.

The cover was fifty dollars, which made Meredith hesitate. Verity was so self-assured that she paid for them both, and Meredith’s curiosity became uncontrollable.

“What is this place!” she gasped when they walked into a large ballroom with red wallpaper and lights all along the ceiling. In the center of the room was a huge chandelier of sparkling crystals, and in the corners were tasteful statues of Greek gods and goddesses. Most strange, however, was the row of fifty men standing at attention, waiting for something.

They bowed and smiled widely, and most of them said, “Good evening, madam,” or “You’re looking lovely tonight,” or something similar. They all wore suits or tuxedoes in various colors as though this were the most important night of their lives.

Verity squealed with excitement and grabbed the man on the front end of the line by the arm. “Have fun!” she said to Meredith, and her man gently led her by the arm to a table isolated from the other couples already there. Meredith did not see her again that night.

         Meredith looked up and down the long row of undeniably attractive men, nervously. She felt odd. She felt like she was taking advantage. She felt like those men who came to her for someone to talk at. She shuddered, and suddenly one of the men in particular caught her eye.

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I can't read the samples on Saturday itself because that day is sacred spend-time-with-the-hubby day, but I promise to catch up when he goes back to work! Thanks for dropping by here! 
Also in Nook! 

Alternate Covers for Threads Woven

I've just released a short story collection with this cover. The cover wasn't easy to arrive at, but as I mentioned, it was my husband's favorite of the designs I could get rights to. I thought the picture of the women doing something entirely inexplicable communicated both the power of the women in my stories and the sometimes strange things that happen in them.

But after looking at bizarre pictures of women for several hours, I was also enamored of this one. What do you think? Too far?

Then there's this, using "Vanity" by Auguste Toulmouche. I like the idea of women appreciating themselves, but again, it might go too far.

I fell in love with this picture for its beauty as well as its appropriate content. In "Threads Woven," Leila uses an old quilt both to warm herself and to reach out to Miriam. The black-haired beauty looks a lot like the way I pictured Leila! So lovely. So off limits because I can't seem to contact the artist. Sigh. I can keep trying if you like this one best.

Which one's your favorite? I'll change the cover according to which one gets the most votes! If you leave your email address, I'll enter you in a drawing for a free copy of the book with the cover of your choice! Wooohooo! Drawing takes place on Monday.

Don't forget to get your free sample and inexpensive entire book through this ad. :)