Hi again! It’s time again for me to stumble into the WIPpet Wednesday party and wander around greeting everyone, pretending I have some idea of what’s going on with the folks who post serial-style.
Dropping in every few weeks means missing a lot. O.o
WIPpet Wednesday is, of course, the day when the WIPpeteers post a snippet of a work-in-progress that relates in some way to the day’s date. As Sworn is still with its first readers and I probably won’t get back to it until we’re at least somewhat settled in a new home, we’re sampling from the vampires again today.
The good news is that I got beat sheets done for the whole series yesterday (though #5 still needs work), which means that I can get down to scene outlines soon if I can find time around house stuff.
The better news is that this is going to be SO MUCH FUN to write that I’m shaking a little.
You may be a writer if this makes you do a happy dance.
Today we’ll do our snippet from chapter nine of Resurrection (2+7 for the 27th). Shivva and Daniel are at a crime scene, which we’ve seen a few of on Wippet Wednesdays past. Shivva’s job is just to see what she can figure out without direction. Kind of a test, and an important one.
The kitchen is a mess, with uncapped soda bottles all over the table next to stacks of plastic cups, some of which are tipped and scattered across the floor. Bowls of chips and party mix sit on the counters, along with an array of cheap booze. The sharp stink of it would be enough to mask the scent of blood if we were limited to living senses. Not for us, though. Underneath our stylish-yet-understated clothing, Daniel and I are monsters. Even spoiled, dead blood calls to us.
I move toward the basement door without any direction from Daniel, and he follows a few steps behind. This is my show now.
Death chokes the air down here, as though its heaviness has dragged it all underground. The basement is finished and separated into a rec room and a few smaller, enclosed rooms off of it. Probably a furnace room, maybe a bathroom. The walls look solid, but the carpet is cheap. Couches upholstered in worn cloth in clashing patterns cluster around a big TV in the corner, and the tables between them are scattered with plates of half-eaten pizza. In the open space in the centre of the room lies an empty wine bottle. I pull on gloves before I pick it up, even though our investigation should be over. No point sending the human police on a snipe hunt if they do show up.
I hold it out to Daniel. “Spin the bottle?”
He shrugs. “We thought maybe. I didn’t know kids these days still did that.”
I didn’t think they did, either. “You’d think there would be an app for that.”
I’m guessing high schoolers. Old enough that someone’s parents left them home alone, and they had friends over. More than a few, judging by the number of cups scattered over the floor. Maybe college age kids acting goofy, but I’d like to think that anyone who can legally drink would have better taste than what’s indicated by the open bar upstairs.
So there we go. Yeah, cutting it off before the gore again. I don’t think anyone stumbling on my blog for the first time is going to want to see what these two are dealing with. *waves*
And I’d say that’s it for me for a while regarding WIPpet Wednesday. I’ll still be blogging, still doing the Bound A-Z series on Thursdays, but I likely won’t be posting on Wednesdays until I’m back to work and have a lot more new material to share. I’ll still pop in on other WIPpeteers’ posts when I can. If you’d like to do the same, you can find them here.
Big thanks as always to our host KL Schwengel, who just alpha read Sworn for me and is either making notes or plotting my death. I’m not scared. Nope.
*shiver*
May 27th, 2015 at 9:32 am
Third paragraph, first sentence “its has”. Sorry, can’t turn off the internal editor. I like this as much as I always have and can’t wait to see it in all its finished glory some day. 😀
And why can’t I be doing both? Note-taking and plotting, that is. Fully capable of multi-tasking. Too capable. It’s unhealthy. Scrambles the brains. Hmmm…. scrambled brains… *blinks* What? Oh. Nothing to fear, Kate. Nothing at all. Even though — well, you know.
May 27th, 2015 at 9:38 am
-_-
Thanks, I’ll fix that. I had to type this into WordPress instead of copying and pasting because I only had my printed notes. I’m amazed that’s the only time my fingers slipped.
May 27th, 2015 at 11:01 pm
I thought it was a nifty snippet, Kate. And typing into WordPress? That’s how I do it all the time, and your post looks ten times better than my usual.
Only thing… the “Daniel and I are monsters”…. the voice here kind of drew me out. Who is she telling this to? If it’s herself, then why is she telling at all?
May 28th, 2015 at 10:56 am
It actually fits in the narrative. The fact that she’s not human and is separated from her past is on her mind a lot. That is a good point, though, as it does stick out in snippet form.
(Side note: am I the only real person who narrates in my mind like I’m talking to someone?)
May 28th, 2015 at 11:26 am
I can see how snippet form accentuated the statement oddly.
And no, you’re definitely not the only one. 😀
May 27th, 2015 at 11:32 am
I like the part about spin the bottle. “You’d think there would be an app for that.” You mean there’s not?
May 27th, 2015 at 11:34 am
I just checked, and there is. With R-rated dares. Because of course there is.
May 27th, 2015 at 11:42 am
Wow. Is this a good time to admit I have a “sexy dice” game I use when I’m out of ideas for writing a scene?
May 27th, 2015 at 12:13 pm
That’s a little scary there’s an app for that, but you’re right – of course there is. Love your imagery – can totally picture what’s left of the high school party.
May 27th, 2015 at 12:21 pm
Wow, Kate! Just wow! This should be a TV show. Really. Maybe it will someday.
I’m glad your series will be fun for you to write. That’s awesome. Keep writing!
May 27th, 2015 at 12:50 pm
We need a St. John’s based show now that Republic of Doyle is off the air. 🙂
May 27th, 2015 at 6:43 pm
“Underneath our stylish-yet-understated clothing, Daniel and I are monsters.” 😀 Much giggles. And I love the clashing couches. It adds to the whole party room feel of the scene. But I gotta say, I’ve never known partying college students to be particularly picky about what substances they’re dumping in their bodies.
May 27th, 2015 at 7:12 pm
Shivva never got to go to college. Her expectations don’t align with reality. 😉
May 27th, 2015 at 9:20 pm
Poor Shivva. 😦 Not so much the party scene thing, because YIPES on most of those, but the overall college thing.
May 27th, 2015 at 8:57 pm
Excellent stuff, Kate! I’ve kinda of had it up to here with vampires right now, but these intrigue me anyway. Great new take on the trope.
Congrats on the organizational progress — and especially the enthusiasm. 🙂
May 27th, 2015 at 9:44 pm
Yeah, I’m kind of sick of them in general… Never meant to write them, but I’m totally loving it!
May 27th, 2015 at 10:20 pm
awwww gore! This is great! I love it. Crime and vampires is awesome!
May 28th, 2015 at 9:50 am
“You’d think there would be an app for that.” made me laugh. Very interesting.
May 31st, 2015 at 3:49 am
This is great stuff – I particularly love this line: “Death chokes the air down here, as though its heaviness has dragged it all underground.” Because I can really imagine that feeling, it’s very graphic in the right ways.
Also, beat sheets? Are those the Save the Cat! style beat sheets, or something else? I’m more familiar with them from when I studied animation and story-boarding than I am for writing. Curious!
May 31st, 2015 at 8:50 am
Save the Cat style. With these books being shorter (novellas), I thought I’d give it a try. I’m finding it really helpful in that there’s a framework, but still so much flexibility. Can’t wait to actually get down to scene planning!
June 3rd, 2015 at 10:00 am
“You’d think there would be an app for that” made me laugh out loud — then groan when I saw your comment that there really was. Of course there is… *sigh*
I really do like your vampires and your description, as ever, is bloody awesome. (I’m just a little sad that we didn’t get to any actual bloody bits… but then I’m sad the snippet’s over anyway! Wanted to read more!)