For December's Showcase, I am sharing an excerpt from my WIP for release early in 2015. The story will be in Kindle Scout on Dec 13th.
Grand Master's Pawn
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| Concept Cover |
Protagonists:
Newly graduated from the Space Academy, Violet Hunter is an empath, illegally
trained by the White Mother Tingu. Her secret task is to discover the rogue
Grand Masters who are disrupting galactic civilization.
Antagonists:
In the scornful words of Mother Tingu, “The twelve Grand Masters comprising the
Council are the most powerful beings in the galaxy, or so they claim.”
Acknowledgement: My
notes for this story go back several years, but I credit our Nebula Nights party for crystallizing the character of the Grand
Master in my mind. Think Darth Vader
with hair. Or see the concept cover showing Durer with the intense eyes of an
artist in a self-portrait.
In
this excerpt, Violet is a candidate for selection as the pawn of a Grand
Master. As a pawn, she will travel to exotic planets on missions, following,
and sometimes defying, the Grand Master’s orders. For many weeks, she only sees his avatar.
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| Her Grand Master's avatar |
Excerpt:
An artificial voice called, “Candidates will
walk onto the stage, one at a time, and stand still for evaluation by the Grand
Masters.”
Violet compressed her lips, resolving to take
her chance, and stepped forward. She stood erect and stared bravely at the row
of lighted spheres. An uncanny vision wavered before her eyes, and she tensed,
holding her breath in awe. The hazy image focused into a semicircle of twelve
fantastic people seated on ornate thrones, human men and women and alien
creatures. Their eyes glowed in the bright colors she had seen on the spheres.
One alien was a mass of writhing tentacles, while another resembled a green
gelatinous blob. One humanoid woman was dressed in red robes, and another in a
green gown, and two men were clad in somber black robes.
In the midst of these amazing sights, her
attention was caught by a dark man in blue robes seated at one end of the
semi-circle. He had a grim saturnine face with the hooked nose of an eagle. His
eyes were half lidded. While she watched, he turned toward her, his eyes opened
and blue beams flashed out, piercing straight into her face. She stared boldly
into those laser blue eyes. Yet in the next moment, his eyes slid slowly past,
and she doubted he had even noticed her.
The eerie vision of the twelve entities vanished
from sight as swiftly as it had arisen. Violet was bitterly disappointed; she
wanted to inspect the Grand Masters more closely. Perhaps one or more of the
strange beings in her vision was the source of the evil influence she sought to
destroy.
Violet blinked, returning to the cold reality
of the interview room with the lighted spheres topping each tall cylinder. The
mechanical voice called, “You have been chosen.”
Violet smiled, raising her fist in triumph.
She had achieved the first step in her risky task.
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| Cover for Kindle Scout |
Comments are welcome.
If you want to read more, check
https://kindlescout.amazon.
from the 13th. If you enjoy the first 2 chapters, please vote for this book. Thanks!
If you want to read more, check
https://kindlescout.amazon.
from the 13th. If you enjoy the first 2 chapters, please vote for this book. Thanks!
The link for the Kindle Scout doesn't work for me. Loved the excerpt, though!
ReplyDeleteKristina,
DeleteThe link won't work until Saturday according to their message.
Traveling to exotic planets - sign me up! :) Enjoyed the excerpt. I just voted!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteI've learned a lot from your advice on g+
Good luck on Kindle Scout!
ReplyDeleteThanks! If not, I'll self-publish
DeleteI had a problem trying to comment on your excerpt - very intense emotions
Ooo. interesting!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteA lot of good stories appear in the Showcase
Makes me wonder in a way if what she saw of those 12 people was even real.
ReplyDeleteShe doesn't find out for 75% of the story.
Delete