Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. On the surface, it’s a web ring of authors who post snippets of their work for comment. In reality, it’s a close-knit group of friends and colleagues working together to support and encourage one another and promote the science fiction and fantasy genres.
This week’s snippet is a departure from SOVRAN’S PAWN. Don’t worry. We aren’t going far. I’ve been hard at work on Book Two of THE BLACK WING CHRONICLES, tentatively titled THE WATCHTOWER. Still in the first draft stage it’s nearly ready for the endless revisions to begin. Here is your first look:
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Without bothering to aim, Bo pulled the trigger, blasting an enormous hole in the wall. She dove through it before the smoke cleared. On the other side, she came up quickly to a crouch and looked around.
Finding herself alone, she rose and moved along the corridor, heading in the general direction of the exit. As she reached a junction, a handful of large, black-clad commandos stepped out from the shadows and opened fire on her. Bo ducked and reversed course, heading back the way she’d come. She passed the hole she’d made just as more armed commandos swarmed through it. She fired at them and turned, racing full speed down the corridor.
The maze of intersecting hallways would have confused even the best sense of direction. Bo alternated left turns and right turns until she finally emerged into a high-walled courtyard.
She bit back a curse. She’d ended up on the wrong side of the compound.
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Well, that’s the Saturday Snippet for this week! Please don’t forget to comment by clicking on either the blog title or the little quotation balloon in the upper right hand corner. Tell your friends. Stop back here next week for another!
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If you’re interested in more about:
SOVRAN’S PAWN
United by extortion, divided by duty, someone wants them both dead. They want each other. The catch is, nothing is what it seems…
Convicted of treason and sentenced to be executed, Bo Barron is the last person who should be infiltrating a Sub-socia weapons auction. But when her father is kidnapped and the ransom demand is the schematics to an experimental weapon, she has no choice but to go under cover with her uncle to get it.
Nobody counted on former-government-agent-turned-holofeature-hero Blade Devon’s infatuation with her. A botched assassination under the guise of a bar brawl leaves Bo blind and Blade wondering if there isn’t more to this job than he was led to believe.
Never able to resist playing the hero, Blade tends her injuries and delves deeper into the intrigue only to find this mission isn’t about a weapon at all. It’s about two Sovrans’ maneuvering for control, with Bo and Blade as their pawns.
All Bo and Blade have to do is figure out how to survive the game they didn’t know they were playing.
Gotta Name My Blog 
Dang it! I hate it when that happens… 🙂
Great snippet! Can’t wait to catch your first book on the Nook.
Well, you can catch it as of today! SOVRAN’S PAWN has joined DEATH BRINGS VICTORY and ALONE ON THE EDGE at Barnes and Noble!
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sovrans-pawn-jc-cassels/1110622014?ean=2940033165353
Snagged my copy! Looking forward to it…
Oops! Think fast, Bo!
Fortunately, she’s pretty good at thinking on her feet… or whatever.
I agree with TM (Aston). Hate it when that happens (and in my case, most of the time). What an exciting scene!!! And then what happens???
Well, next comes the musical number. Once everyone gets out in the courtyard with her, they break into a complicated song and dance number that involves a lot of lifts and high kicks, and an interpretive dance executed by an endomorph.
Ow. Stop making me laugh, woman.
Great snippet! I kept thinking, where’s the garbage shoot escape hatch? Great pacing and decisions on where to start and end it. Takes you in fast but catches you up as you go along.
Thanks!
When she went in, SHE had a plan for getting out. Unfortunately, the best laid plans, blah, blah, blah…
Doh! Bo needs to blast another hole, and fast!
Oh, and hey… How come there’s never pink-clad commandos?
… Just wonderin’, is all…
That is a really good question Cary… my daughter asked me the same thing!! I reckon I’ll have to have some pink clad commandos teetering on high heels in a future scene.
Red. You need red leather clad commandos. It’s a more visceral image.
Silly Bo. She needs a trust map implant.. or something.
Does iPhone have an app for that?
*snickers* Just her luck I suppose.
I finished SOVRAN’S PAWN this week and I’m looking forward to Book 2. :o)
Hooray! Working furiously!
Sounds like the compound isn’t the only thing she’s on the wrong side of.
Hmmm… yes, she does have that effect on some people.
I’m like that in my house and it’s only one floor!! great snippet, as per, JC. thanks!
(curtsy) Thank you very much!
hahaha! (bows) my pleasure!
Good action and pacing, JC! I’m starting SOVRAN’S PAWN this week – YAY!!
I’m with Heidi. Great pacing and use of sentence lengths. The action is really gripping and I want to know what’s next. Excellent.
You know, I think it’s time for Bo to catch a break. 😉